“I think January is going to be a very difficult time. If we’ve not vaccinated staff and we’ve got sickness going on due to self-isolation and possible Covid infection then we’re going to be in big trouble, more than we already are.”
Dr Zainab Najim, DAUK Spokeswoman
NHS workers and police are asking to be at the front of the vaccine queue, as they plead for priority over the elderly in order to tackle a winter surge in infections.
Medics warned of a January crisis in care if swathes of NHS staff are struck down by the virus or forced to isolate due to exposure.
The new Covid-19 strain, which the Prime Minister said on Saturday was up to 70 per cent more transmissible, has led to increased worry about the risk to staff.
Dr Zainab Najim, a junior doctor and Doctors Association UK spokeswoman, said the new strain meant the virus was more likely to get “out of control” as medical staff vaccinated vulnerable people.
She said the arrangement was affecting morale among staff, who felt “forgotten” after months of putting themselves at risk.
“I think January is going to be a very difficult time. If we’ve not vaccinated staff and we’ve got sickness going on due to self-isolation and possible Covid infection then we’re going to be in big trouble, more than we already are,” she said.
A poll carried out by the association, of 1,000 frontline doctors, found that 70 per cent had not yet received or been offered the vaccine.
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