Graffiti criticising mandatory vaccinations for NHS workers sprayed on bridge

The words, 'Clapped then sacked! NHS 100k, No jab, no job!' have been spray painted onto the bridge above the A354 Weymouth Relief Road in the Bincombe Down area.

It comes as NHS trusts prepare to start sending dismissal letters to any members of staff who have not had their first dose by then. It is estimated that more than 70,000 NHS staff – 4.9 per cent - could remain unvaccinated by the deadline date.

The graffiti refers to the NHS 100k movement, an initiative rallying against mandatory vaccination for NHS staff.

The Department of Health said there were no plans to delay the deadline for compulsory vaccinations and said it was "the right thing to do to protect patients".

However, pressure has been mounting against the law with thousands of NHS workers and campaigners protesting against compulsory Covid jabs across the country. On Saturday, healthcare staff were pictured throwing their scrubs at police outside Downing Street in London, while crowds chanted ‘no vax mandate’.

As the Health Secretary comes under increasing pressure to scrap the law, south Dorset MP, Richard Drax has voiced his own concerns with mandating vaccines.

He said: “I understand that there would be some people who would say that as a profession in the business of caring that there is a responsibility to be fully jabbed. But I believe it is an individual’s right to not have the jab if they don’t want it."