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AXREM Statement on Priority Groups for Coronavirus vaccination

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AXREM member companies have provided extensive support to the NHS throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, through supply of technology solutions and the associated support staff to assist healthcare providers in managing the unprecedented demand brought about by Coronavirus. This has included providing imaging technology and radiotherapy treatment devices technology and support staff at very short notice in large volumes to NHS Trusts, NHS Health Boards, the Nightingale Hospitals, and the Louisa Jordan Hospital to assist in the rapid diagnosis of the disease.

AXREM members welcome and fully support the UK Government led vaccination programme which is currently being rolled out at speed and the advice and prioritisation for vaccination provided by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) and detailed here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/priority-groups-for-coronavirus-covid-19-vaccination-advice-from-the-jcvi-30-december-2020/joint-committee-on-vaccination-and-immunisation-advice-on-priority-groups-for-covid-19-vaccination-30-december-2020

AXREM members wish to recognise the key role played by members’ employees who provide technical support to the equipment and solutions used in the front line of the fight against the disease, and the critical support they are providing NHS staff in their efforts to support patients and save lives. Often working shoulder to shoulder with NHS staff in high-risk areas in hospitals, AXREM members’ field engineers, clinical applications staff and technical sales support staff are providing essential support during these challenging times. Given the risks of working in such areas and with the recently announced increase in infection rates brought about by the new variants of the virus, AXREM members call for our employees supporting these front line services to be recognised as frontline health and social care staff and be prioritised for vaccination accordingly.

We believe it is only fair that critical support staff in member companies are afforded similar vaccination protection against the virus that their NHS colleagues receive.

We welcome and support the recent statements issued by sister trade associations calling for similar prioritisation and recognition of these key workers, which are attached below.

https://www.abhi.org.uk/media/2925/abhi-statement-on-covid-19-vaccination.pdf

https://www.bivda.org.uk/News-Events/BIVDA-Press-Releases/ArticleID/462/The-British-In-Vitro-Diagnostics-Association-BIVDA-calls-for-vaccinations-for-industry-frontline-key-workers

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