Government called to vaccinate Royal Navy sailors ahead of carrier strike group mission
PRESSURE is mounting for the government to ensure hundreds of Royal Navy sailors, due to head on operations in the spring, don’t miss out on being given their coronavirus vaccine
The plea comes ahead of the first major deployment of Britain’s carrier strike group in May.
Spearheaded by the £3.2bn aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth, the mighty naval task force will be made up of Type 45 destroyers, Type 23 frigates and support vessels.
It’s expected that more than 2,000 military personnel will be involved in the operation, which will see the battlegroup sail through the Mediterranean, Gulf and Indo-Pacific.
But there are mounting concerns that some sailors may miss out on their first dose of the coronavirus vaccine while overseas.
It comes as a behind-the-scenes tussle in Westminster rages over which public services will take priority in the vaccine rollout – which has so far seen more than 20m Brits jabbed.
Defence staff inside Whitehall are understood to have made their arguments for military personnel to be bumped up the queue.
But similar pleas are being made for teachers at the Department of Education and for police and fire service personnel at the Home Office, leading to an uneasy stand-off.
‘It’s a very sensitive topic about who gets vaccinated,’ one Whitehall insider told The News.
Now shadow armed forces minister Stephen Morgan has warned a ‘credible plan’ to protect military personnel deployed on operations must be created.
The Portsmouth South MP told The News: ‘The armed forces continue to do vital work to support frontline staff at this critical juncture in our work to vaccinate Britain.
‘The defence secretary must set out a clear and credible plan to vaccinate our troops, particularly for those who are to be deployed for longer periods of time.
‘We must protect those who are protecting us.’
In January, First Sea Lord Admiral Tony Radakin said he was ‘hopeful’ all carrier strike group personnel would be vaccinated before they deployed in May.
While armed forces minister James Heappey today insisted plans were afoot to ensure military personnel received their first inoculation.
He added: ‘Defence is committed to keeping our personnel, their families and communities safe at home and overseas, and all our personnel are being vaccinated in line with national priority guidelines.
‘This means that service personnel are being offered vaccination in step with the UK population.
‘Whilst not arguing that defence personnel should be vaccinated ahead of turn, we do believe that they should not be disadvantaged by being out of the country on operational duty when their turn comes.
‘We are in discussion with Department for Health and Social Care colleagues to ensure that does not happen.’
The Ministry of Defence added it was confident in its safeguarding measures to prevent the spread of the virus.
A government spokesman said: ‘We are committed to keeping our staff, their families and communities safe at home and overseas, and all our personnel are being vaccinated in line with national priority guidelines.’