NHS staff will be forced to have two jabs or lose jobs
Health groups say plans would force trusts to either fire staff or remove them from the frontline at a time when the NHS is already chronically understaffed
It seems that ministers are planning to enact new laws that will make vaccinations mandatory for NHS staff, leaving them to choose between getting two jabs and losing their job.
Sajid Javid will force NHS staff to have two Covid jabs, reports The Sunday Times, which states that the health secretary is seeking to bring in legislation that would make full vaccination a condition of employment.
The argument given by Mr Javid for doing so is that it would further protect vulnerable patients whilst staying in hospital, however, scientific advice listed on the government’s own website says that you can still catch Covid and pass it on when vaccinated.
Health groups, meanwhile, have kicked back against the plans – saying that this would force trusts to either fire staff or remove them from frontline duty at a time when the NHS is already chronically understaffed.
According to The Sunday Times, around 7% (106,351) of NHS staff in England have still not been vaccinated.
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News also emerged for the first time in The Observer yesterday that emergency Covid planning has now begun with local councils in England.
The paper reported that the UK’s health emergency committee has been in touch with local authorities to discuss bringing in more restrictions as part of Plan B.
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Last week, new Covid cases passed the 50,000 per day mark for the first time in three months. Mr Javid is currently putting together a new strategy with a blueprint due to be announced in the coming weeks.
He is expected to announce new measures including more community diagnostic centres, to open in football stadiums and shopping centres where scans and blood tests can be carried out and new surgical hubs for carrying out routine operations.
It is also expected that he will announce more deals with the private sector in a bid to cut the backlog that has accumulated in elective surgeries.
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Other plans to cut waiting list times include the removal of patients the Prime Minister and Javid believe should not be on there, such as those who are currently considered too obese to have minor surgery.
Mr Javid is also preparing to roll out booster jabs to the over 50’s after the Christmas holidays.
How will the Government’s new digital ID alternative for alcohol sales work?
Emily Sergeant
All licensed venues across England and Wales now have the choice to introduce digital proof of age for alcohol sales alongside physical.
Instead of having to hand over physical ID that contains personal information, such as names and home addresses, customers now have the choice to simply provide confirmation that they are 18 or over on their phone – helping to better protect privacy and personal safety in the process.
This means that, no matter whether you’re buying a drink at your favourite pub, heading to a festival, or enjoying a night out at a concert, you won’t need to worry if you’ve left your ID at home.
According to the Government, this new change will benefit businesses greatly too, as certified digital services are able to check that an ID is genuine and belongs to the person presenting it much easier than the alternative can, which therefore helps to reduce the risk of any fake or borrowed IDs going undetected.
Well, according to the Government, it could be as simple as a customer showing a QR code for staff to scan, or tapping their phone against a compatible reader, where staff will then receive a clear confirmation on their device that the customer has passed the age check.
This change follows a 2024 Government consultation where it was reported that 72% of respondents supported the use of digital identities for age verification when buying alcohol.
Digital Government Minister Stephanie Peacock reiterated that ‘it will remain an individual or business’ choice whether to use or adopt [digital ID]’ and that physical ID will ‘still remain a valid way’ for customers to prove their age.
“This groundbreaking change in the law will mean you do not need to carry a physical ID, nor hand over sensitive personal information such as your name or address just to prove your age, allowing everyone to feel safer on a night out,” she concluded.
Featured Image – Robin Worrall (via Unsplash)
News
Manchester to host G20 Summit in 2027 with more than a dozen world leaders descending on the city
Emily Sergeant
Manchester has been confirmed as the host city for the G20 Summit next year.
It was already announced back in November last year that the G20 Summit would be coming to the UK in 2027, and plans were apparently already being discussed to host it in Manchester even before Andy Burnham became Prime Minister and Number 10 North was set up.
But now, ahead of this year’s leaders’ summit being held in Miami in December, it has been confirmed that the G20 Summit will arrive in Manchester in November 2027.
Manchester is said to have been picked to host the leaders’ summit because of its ‘cultural heritage’.
Bringing together 19 of the world’s largest economies and two major multilateral bodies – the European Union and the African union – G20 members who will be invited to attend the summit next year make up 85% of global GDP, 75% of international trade, and two-thirds of the world’s population as a whole.
Manchester has been confirmed to host the G20 Summit in 2027 / Credit: 10 Downing Street | Paul Kagame (Flickr)
G20 members are also some of the UK’s closest economic partners, the Government insists.
17 of the UK’s top 20 global export markets attend the summit, as do 18 of the UK’s top 20 sources of foreign direct investment.
The presidency of the G20 is currently held by the US but will pass to the UK after the leaders’ summit hosted by the president at his Trump National Doral Miami golf resort in December.
The 2027 summit will be held at Manchester Central, it has been confirmed, and other locations across the UK will also host other G20 events as part of the year-long presidency, but these are yet to be announced.
Georgina Pellant -
25th October 2021 
