A social care leader has urged the minority of vaccine-sceptic care workers in Wales to get fully jabbed as a matter of urgency.<\/p>\n
According to Mario Kreft MBE, it was a \u201clife or death\u201d decision because of the potential dangers posed by the newly-identified Omicron super variant of Covid-19.<\/p>\n
The new variant was first reported in South Africa last Wednesday and the early evidence suggests it has a higher re-infection risk.<\/p>\n
Experts warn that it appears to spread \u201cvery rapidly\u201d and that it can be spread between people who are double vaccinated.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s feared the vaccines could be less effective against the new variant, although partially or fully jabbed people were less likely to be become seriously ill.<\/p>\n
Mr Kreft is calling on care workers and other to go for their booster jab as soon as they are eligible.<\/p>\n
Another concern for Care Forum Wales is that any increase in community transmission could trigger another \u201cpingdemic\u201d, leading to greater staff shortages at the time when the sector was already struggling.<\/p>\n
Mr Kreft said: \u201cHaving a booster jab is the one thing that people can do to play their part to combat this horrible super variant.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur staff have been heroic throughout the pandemic and they have risen magnificently to the unprecedented challenges of keeping people safe.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is the time when the whole community can do their bit but it\u2019s especially important that people who work in care homes or in domiciliary care have their third jab.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe reason it\u2019s so important for people in social care to be triple jabbed is blindingly obvious because by definition they are looking after the most vulnerable people in society, those who more often than not\u00a0 have serious underlying health conditions that make them uniquely susceptible.<\/p>\n
\u201cOverwhelmingly, the staff working in social care have now had all the necessary jabs but there is still a small minority that have not been fully vaccinated or not vaccinated at all in some cases.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is their right not to be vaccinated but it\u2019s now a real issue of concern with the new Omicron variant which appears to be so much more transmissible.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt presents a whole set of new risks for care homes and domiciliary care so it\u2019s imperative we all do the right thing.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re now involved in a race against time against a new and potentially extremely dangerous super variant.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe won\u2019t know the full extent of the dangers for a few weeks but if we wait until then it could be too late and people will die. That\u2019s the bottom line.<\/p>\n
\u201cI cannot stress enough how important this is \u2013 it could be a\u00a0 matter of life and death for the incredibly vulnerable people for whom we provide care and for our staff too.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the meantime, the scientific advice is clear and unequivocal \u2013 we need to vaccinate vulnerable people and those close to them.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven people who have been double jabbed may not be safe so having the booster will provide the best possible protection that\u2019s currently available to us. The booster is the only game in town.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe people at most risk are the unvaccinated and they are the ones most likely to spread the\u00a0 disease.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe do not have any room for complacency so we need to do everything we can to ensure that the people who work with vulnerable people get the booster.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe vaccine programme has been fantastic. Most people have got their residents boosted and the majority of staff have also had the third jab so that\u2019s been a big success.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s vitally important that those remaining people in care homes and domiciliary care workers who\u2019ve been sceptical are encouraged to get their jabs.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverybody has now had the opportunity to be vaccinated so there is no excuse now not to have three jabs.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the same time, we also need to ensure that we have adequate cover on the front line.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe sector is already suffering from the worst staff shortage in living memory.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe last thing we need now is to lose more care workers as a result of a new pingdemic.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to devise a system to ensure that staff are not side-lined unnecessarily whilst keeping people safe.\u201d<\/p>\n