Covid-19: Met Police officers 'should be vaccinated with healthcare workers'

About 1,300 officers are currently off sick or isolating, the Met Police Federation said

Police officers should be vaccinated alongside healthcare workers, the organisation which represents frontline officers says.

Chair of the Met Police Federation, Ken Marsh, said he was "amazed" that no consideration was being given to vaccinating police officers.

He said enforcing a national lockdown would put a lot of pressure on officers who are with the public 24/7.

The government said it was prioritising those who were at risk for the vaccine.

Mr Marsh said: "It would appear that policing has been airbrushed out of any conversation in relation to protecting my colleagues, which I find quite incredible considering they are on the front line," he said.

"They are the one group of people other than the National Health Service that actually have to go to work and have to be out there with the public, every day, 24 hours a day.

"It's just amazing that no consideration whatsoever has been given to vaccinating police."

He added that requests to the government were falling on "deaf ears".

'Officers off sick'

His comments come as the government issued guidance on Monday night following the announcement that England would go into lockdown again. Police officers are to take action against people who leave home without a "reasonable excuse".

Fixed penalty notices of £200 will be issued for a first offence, with this doubling for further offences up to a maximum of £6,400.

Those holding, or involved in holding, an illegal gathering of more than 30 people risk a police-issued fine of £10,000.

Asked about how lockdown enforcement would affect officers, Mr Marsh said: "It will obviously create a lot of pressure on us because we have a lot more officers off this time than we did back in March."

Mr Marsh said about 1,300 officers were off sick or self-isolating in the capital.

He has previously told BBC News he was concerned police officers could be "super-spreaders" as they often move between London's 32 boroughs.

The government's Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation said it had considered evidence on the risk of exposure and risk of mortality by occupation and decided that the prioritisation system in place captured "almost all preventable deaths from Covid-19".