NHS staff join anti-vaxxers on 'freedom' rallies through London, Newcastle, Leeds and Manchester in protest against mandatory Covid jabs
NHS workers protested across the country today at the move to ensure all staff are fully vaccinated against Covid.
Although the UK's mortality rate has dropped massively as more of the population has been vaccinated, some anti-vaxx nurses maintain the life-saving vaccine is an 'experimental drug'.
Tens of thousands of NHS staff who have not had the Covid vaccine face the sack.
More than 80,000 – 6 per cent of the workforce – remain unvaccinated despite repeated efforts to boost take-up.
All frontline workers who have not received a jab will be called into formal meetings from February 4 and given a warning that they face dismissal.
A woman holds a placard promoting NHS 100k, a group of anti-vaxx ambulance workers who 'stand united in favour of freedom of choice, bodily autonomy and informed consent'. More than 150,000 people have died from Covid in Britain but the death rate plummeted after people started taking vaccines
A man smiles as he holds a flare and a drum during a march in London for NHS staff against vaccine mandates for workers in the organisation
The infamous anti-vaxxer Piers Corbyn, brother of former Labour leader Jeremy, gathered with other protesters outside BBC Broadcasting House, London, to demonstrate against vaccine mandates
A person wearing a Squid Game mask and a biohazard suit holds a blow-up syringe and they protest against the vaccine
A woman jokes as a person in a mask with a blow-up syringe injects her rear. More than 5.5 million people have died from Covid worldwide
Many NHS workers who have worked decades for the organisation face being sacked if they cannot prove their vaccination statusNHS England guidance states notices will then be issued from that day, with March 31 marking the end of the notice period.
All frontline staff are required to have both doses of the Covid jab by April 1, meaning that by February 3 the first must have been given.
Managers have been advised they can move unvaccinated medics from the frontline into roles which do not involve direct patient contact. Bosses won't have to help staff find 'suitable alternative employment' and redundancy payments will not be made to those who are dismissed.
A protest is being held in Piccadilly Gardens against the Government's decision to enforce compulsory Covid vaccinations for NHS staff.
The demonstration is part of a national campaign calling on healthcare staff to be given 'freedom of choice'.
A Yorkshire NHS nurse has said she has chosen to walk away from the job she has been in for 30 years rather than have the Covid vaccine.
Cara Barnes, from West Yorkshire, has worked as a specialist nurse for three decades.
But she is set to lose her job as she is refusing to have the Covid-19 jab, which she claims is an 'experimental drug'.
From April 1, all NHS staff will be required by law to be fully vaccinated against Covid-19. It means those who are yet to be jabbed will have to have had their first by the start of February.
Trafalgar Square saw a large protest as well, as hundreds gathered to demonstrate against vaccine mandates in the UK
Demonstrators descended on the BBC's London offices as NHS nurses and key workers joined forces with anti-vaxxers
Many of the signs suggested NHS staff who are not vaccinated shouldn't be sacked because they were clapped during the pandemic
NHS nurses protest against vaccine mandates that will make it compulsory for nurses to have the life-saving drug
Hundreds of demonstrators took to the streets of London with flags and placards decrying Covid measures in the UKBut Cara, who attended the 'World Wide Rally For Freedom' in Leeds city centre today, says she plans to stand firm.
Speaking to Leeds Live, she said: 'I am not prepared to be injected with an experimental drug.
'Coercion is not a choice. It is not the fault of the NHS but I am disappointed - this is not how I saw my 30-year career-ending.'
Hundreds of protesters gathered outside the town hall in Leeds for today's protest. NHS staff were seen hanging their uniforms up outside the entrance to the hall to symbolise what they have described as being 'left out to dry'.
David Hesford, 52, has worked in the NHS for 26 years and is currently a senior health care support officer.
More than 52 million people have taken at least their first dose of the vaccine, which protects people from dying of Covid
The Covid death rate in the UK plunged massively from January 2021 when Britain's population started to get vaccinated
A woman holds up a sign that says 'I love my job'. More than 80,000 people in the NHS remain unvaccinated and as such face the sack
NHS staff protest against the coronavirus disease vaccine rules as they face losing their jobs if they don't take the vaccine
Army veterans salute in support of NHS staff marching in a protest against the coronavirus disease vaccine rules in LondonHe said he has been told he will be sacked if he does not have the jab but that he has chosen not to disclose his vaccination status.
David said: 'If the government are going to sack me then they obviously do not care about me.
'Freedom is the first choice. I have chosen not to divulge my vaccination status - it is about choice.'
Meanwhile, hundreds of anti-vaxxers gathered across the rest of the UK as protesters flocked to Trafalgar Square in London and in Newcastle, to voice their displeasure.
People held signs protesting against the BBC, COVID vaccinations and NHS vaccine mandates.
Health Secretary Sajid Javid last week told the Commons the Government remained committed to the plans.
MrJavid previously expressed his disagreement at NHS workers who are against mandatory vaccination and urged the public to get boosted.
He said: 'I understand it, and obviously we have to weigh all that up for both health and social care, and there will always be a debate about it.'
However, he said the government was taking advice 'from people who are actually experts'.
A man dressed at the grim reaper with a syringe merged with a scythe. Just 1,645 people out of a total 52 million who have taken the vaccine in the UK have died as a result of it, amounting to a minute 0.003 per cent
Demonstrators with signs reading 'the media is the virus' and 'we do not comply' protest against vaccine measures in the UK
Anti-media protesters and anti-vaxxers joined to make their displeasure known against the coronavirus pandemic and vaccines
A woman smiles as she holds a cardboard sign that says 'jobs over jabs'. NHS staff without all their jabs will lose their jobs at the start of AprilMr Javid has stuck by the move, saying it was the 'duty' of NHS workers to get the jab in order to protect patients, and insisted that he does 'not want to see anyone have to walk away from their job'.
'This is all about patient safety, we know vaccines work, we know that they reduce the risk of you being infected, so it reduces the spread of an infection,' he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.
'People whether they are in care homes or a hospital bed, they are particularly vulnerable to this virus, it could be fatal. It is our duty to everything we can to protect them.'
Mr Javid said the public would have questioned why they did not introduce the policy, when other countries around he world have. 'I think you’d have me on the show saying "why didn’t you do anything about it?",' he said.
Covid cases were down 6 per cent from 81,713 to 76,807 this week, while deaths stayed at a fairly similar level, up from 287 to 297.
More than 52.2 million people in the UK have had their first dose, with 48.1 million having their second and 36.8 million having their third.
A 'Worldwide Rally For Freedom' protest march takes place in Newcastle this afternoon outside the BBC's offices in the city
A man with a placard attacking vaccines for teens takes part in an anti-vaxx protest in Newcastle. It is unclear where the man has sourced his claims from
Some NHS chiefs have hit out at the rule to ensure all NHS workers are vaccinated as they say it may fuel a staffing shortage.
The Trades Union Congress (TUC) called for the policy for NHS staff to be 'delayed with immediate effect' to avoid similar shortages among key workers.
It said the NHS 'cannot afford to lose experienced and skilled staff'.
And medical trade unions said the policy should be pushed back to give hospitals more time to persuade staff to come forward for an injection.
The Royal College of Nursing said the move 'looks set to backfire' and is 'an act of self-sabotage', while the Royal College Midwives warned compulsory vaccines will 'only see staffing levels fall further' and have a 'catastrophic impact'.
And the NHS Confederation, which represents NHS trusts in England, said hospitals' frontline staff will be pushed out of their roles, leading to 'more gaps in capacity at a time of intense pressure and patient demand'.
But Stephen Powis, national medical director of NHS England, said vaccines are 'the best protection against the virus' and the 'overwhelming majority' of medics have already been double-jabbed.
'NHS employers will continue to support and encourage staff who have not yet been vaccinated to take up the offer of the first and second doses ahead of the April 1, when regulations come into effect,' he said.
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