Chesterfield man’s concern after engineer comes into his home - and says he’s not had Covid vaccines

Anthony Navin told the Derbyshire Times he had been experiencing an issue with his BT internet connection so an engineer visited his house on Wheeldon Crescent, Brimington, over the weekend to try and resolve the problem.

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But a conversation with the engineer troubled 53-year-old Mr Navin.

Mr Navin said: “I noticed the engineer was wearing a discoloured face mask which concerned me.

“He then went on to tell me ‘I've not had any jabs, I don’t believe in them’.

“I’m a carer for my elderly mother, who lives with me.

“I’m worried about her catching Covid, and I’m angry and concerned that this engineer – and how many others? – are going into people’s homes unvaccinated.

“I asked the engineer why he hadn’t had his jabs and he left my house, saying he felt intimidated.”

Mr Navin said he managed to sort out the connection issue himself in the end, adding that he was now considering changing internet provider.

The engineer was from Openreach, working on behalf of BT.

A spokesperson for Openreach said: “We are very aware of our responsibility to keep people safe.

“A huge amount of time has been spent putting preventative measures in place, to make sure that our engineers and customers – whether they are vaccinated or unvaccinated – pose as little risk as possible to each other, and we can work in an efficient manner.”

Vaccine statistics

According to the Government, a total of 49,987,325 first doses of a Covid-19 vaccine had been delivered in the UK by November 1.

Some 45,712,351 second doses have been given.

And more than eight million people have now received their third booster jab.

New figures from the Office for National Statistics show unvaccinated people are 32 times more likely to die from coronavirus than those who have been doubled-jabbed.

According to the NHS, research shows the vaccines help to reduce your risk of getting seriously ill or dying from Covid-19, reduce your risk of catching or spreading Covid-19 and protect against Covid-19 variants.

The NHS website states: “There is a chance you might still get or spread Covid-19 even if you have a vaccine, so it's important to follow advice about how to avoid catching and spreading Covid-19.”

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