Covid-19 Vaccine Snub: It is time for the Government to start focusing on who they rely upon day in day out
26 February 2021
Covid-19 Vaccine Snub: “It is time for the Government to start focusing on who they rely upon day in day out to police the pandemic and do the best they can for them. Words now are not enough. Action is needed.”
Mel Warnes, Chair of Police Federation, said: ““The Government are relying on police officers every day to police the pandemic without prioritising them to receive a vaccine to protect themselves and others.
“Every day officers are putting themselves and their families at risk. Surrey Police, like many other police forces are experiencing police officers and staff catching the virus at work. This in turn causes, in some cases entire teams to self-isolate, putting extra pressure on colleagues to cover the shortfall in officer numbers.
“The total number of police officers is very small compared to the rest of the population. Surrey have 2,000 officers, just less than half of these are frontline. It would not take a significant amount of time to vaccinate them all.
“The types of calls into Surrey Police range from a small proportion of Anti-Social Behaviour, a similar amount for crime related calls and over a third of calls relate to health and social care. Officers are dealing with members of the public alongside health professionals yet we have no protection.
“Owing to police going from one call to another we are super-spreaders. A young healthy officer, showing no signs or symptoms of Covid-19 could be spreading the virus without knowing it. They will not be eligible for a vaccine for months based on age.
“It is time for the Government to start focusing on who they rely upon day in day out to police the pandemic and do the best they can for them. Words now are not enough. Action is needed.”
National Chair of the Police Federation of England and Wales, John Apter, said: “This announcement shows a complete lack of understanding about policing this pandemic and is an utter betrayal of police officers. My colleagues have been on the frontline since the first national lockdown last March, risking infection and even death to keep the public safe.
“Together with others across policing, we have never said police officers should jump the queue but should be prioritised. It’s right that the most vulnerable and health and care workers were vaccinated; but what about police officers who cannot mitigate against the risks of contracting and spreading this deadly virus? Yet the calls to prioritise policing have been ignored.
“The very nature of policing is unpredictable and means my colleagues often cannot socially distance. They are going into people’s homes, going into hospitals, and having to get up close and personal when helping people or making an arrest.
“Many officers are reporting sick or self-isolating and our numbers are falling, sometimes dangerously low. We have also lost a number of colleagues to this virus too. Yet the Government continue to hide behind the science of the JCVI. What about a moral duty to my colleagues and their families?
“Giving police officers the vaccine would not only protect them and their families but also help prevent the spread of this virus.
“We are sick of warm words and no action by our political leaders who have demanded so much from policing during this pandemic. We will now explore every possible avenue open to us to protect our members from this deadly virus and this complacent government.”
