NHS staff who argue the vaccine rollout has nothing to do with the lifting of lockdown restrictions “need to go on another educational course”, the Chair of the Doctors’ Association has told LBC.
Dr Jenny Vaughan made the remark to LBC’s Shelagh Fogarty after the subject of anti-lockdown protesters gathering in central London this weekend came up during their exchange.
Shelagh said: “There were some people in that rally claiming to be NHS workers [and] nurses too afraid to speak up about fears about vaccines.
She then Dr Vaughan: “What do you say to any NHS colleagues who share those views [and] who go on those marches?”
Dr Vaughan told Shelagh: “The truth is that the reason that we have been able to cautiously emerge from lockdown is that the vaccine has predominantly been delivered to over 80s and is now coming down all the other age groups and that we haven’t got the pressure on the NHS beds that we had.
“If anyone is strongly trying to argue that that’s nothing to do with the [vaccine] and they are an NHS staff [member] then they need to go on another educational course. They really do.
“The vaccine has delivered. But, in addition to that, so have people observing the lockdown.
“And that’s why we must continue to be very cautious with easing the lockdown. We absolutely must observe the social distancing and all the rules.”