The other day, I dreamed that I was fed up with being dictated to.
Shimmery dream-like vision… why should I wear a face mask on the way to work? After all, I had heard Gillian Keegan, the current care minister, say on TV the previous night that masks were ‘in danger of becoming a sign of virtue.’ Ignore the fact that they protect others. This was certainly true on the Tube to work, with only about a fifth of people still wearing masks, despite rules making them compulsory on the Underground. Their defiance to ‘go back to normal’ was quite obvious. And I am not going to wear a mask at work either. I work with a lovely bunch of people, so I know I will be safe, my colleague’s ‘convivial spirit’ saving me from infection. And why not go a step further still? Why should I wash my hands before clinic just because somebody thinks this will stop me spreading an infection about? And the same goes for vaccines… shimmery vision.
And then I woke up and am now back on planet Earth.
Have you all added your views to the GOC survey about compulsory vaccination for eye care professionals? As I pointed out to my daughter-in-law recently at a particularly embarrassing dinner party, I don’t care if you think you are not at risk of illness. The whole point of the vaccine is to help others around you. You wash your hands to protect your patients, why not vaccinate to do the same?
Other than a few medical reasons, I am yet to hear any reasonable argument at all against everyone who deals with patients having to have a complete vaccination profile before continuing with their work. Please email me, anonymously if you wish, if you think you have a reason against full vaccination of clinical staff.