Federation Chair calls for police officers to be added to Covid-19 vaccine priority list

15 January 2021

The Chairman of Sussex Police Federation has highlighted on BBC Radio Sussex - along with Peter Bottomley Conservative MP for Worthing West - why there needs to be a level of priority for police officers receiving the Covid-19 vaccine.

Daren Egan said: “For us the Government is asking for more enforcement which is more risk for an officer out in the public, 24-hours a day.

“Police officers can’t always socially distance when dealing with offenders and they’re going into people’s houses and dealing with people who aren’t taking precautions.

“These officers have got families they have to go home to.

“We’ve had instances in Sussex where they had to deal with people who are COVID-19 positive and they haven’t got a choice they have had to get physical and put them in cars and take them to custody and then they have to go home.

“It’s not just about them, it’s their families.”

Daren explained how he’s over 50 meaning that he is on the priority list due to his age, however he said: “I would give up mine [the vaccine] for a younger frontline officer who is 24/7 out there, I think they’re at more risk than me”.

You can listen to the full conversation on our Facebook page here https://www.facebook.com/SusPolFed/posts/3651531674923682