Officers need to be prioritised for Covid jabs

5 January 2021

Police officers need to be prioritised in the roll-out of Covid vaccines, says the chair of West Mercia Police Federation.

Sarah Cooper says officers need to be protected so that they can carry on providing effective policing services during the pandemic.

“Every single police officer understands that the vulnerable people in our communities, frontline NHS staff and those working in care homes need to be at the very front of the queue for the new vaccines,” says Sarah, “That is absolutely right and proper. However, as it currently stands police officers are quite a way down the priority list and will only get the jab according to their age bracket. Given that the majority of officers are under 55, it could be some time before they get called for a vaccine.

“But in the meantime they are on the frontline, putting their health at risk and in turn risking taking the virus back to their families or unwittingly spreading it among the public they meet. By the very nature of policing, they are often unable to maintain social distancing and, sadly, they have the added risk posed by those who seek to weaponise the virus by spitting and coughing over them.

“While my primary concern is the health of officers, we also have to bear in the mind that with the more virulent strain of the virus now sweeping the country there is a real risk that we could have increasing numbers of our policing team off either with the virus or because they are having to self-isolate due to being in contact with someone who has it and that will really have a massive impact on our resilience and the ability of the police service to meet public demand.

“I think the Government should really consider prioritising police officers during the vaccination programme.”

National Federation chair John Apter has also called on the Prime Minister to ‘do the right thing’ and ensure officers are given the protection they deserve.

He has written to Martin Hewitt, chair of the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC), calling for new and urgent representations to be made to the Government on officers’ behalf.

“It’s time for the Prime Minister to do the right thing for police officers in the thick of this pandemic. I am calling on him to back my colleagues in their time of need as more are absent from work after contracting the virus or having to self-isolate,” John wrote.

“We’ve lobbied the NPCC which has raised this directly with Government. Despite positive responses, no formal decision has been made, and we now need immediate Government action. That’s why the Prime Minister must make a decision - does he support police officers being prioritised for the Covid vaccine or not?

“This is certainly not about jumping the queue in front of the most vulnerable members of society or those on the NHS frontline. It’s about ensuring policing is resilient enough to cope with the demands of the pandemic and that my colleagues can continue to support the public during these exceptional times.”