England’s frontline NHS workers will have to be fully vaccinated against Covid-19 under a new policy set to be unveiled by the government, according to reports, as tens of thousands of staff are still not jabbed.
Employees in the country’s national health service are expected to be set a deadline for next spring to have had enough time to complete the Covid vaccination course, Whitehall sources told the BBC.
Up to 100,000 healthcare staff in England are unvaccinated, according to the head of NHS Providers Chris Hopson.
The decision, which is expected to be announced soon, comes after consultations began in September on whether to make Covid and flu jabs mandatory for frontline NHS and care workers. The flu vaccine, however, will not be made mandatory, according to reports from the BBC, but advised.
Health Secretary Sajid Javid told Sky News last month that he was “leaning towards” mandatory vaccination for NHS staff, but Downing Street was yet to make a final decision.
The prospect of mandatory vaccinations for NHS staff has raised concerns that the move could adversely impact an already overstretched health service. Hopson insisted that the government must work closely with NHS trusts to avoid a mass exodus of unvaccinated staff: “We understand why people are vaccine-hesitant. We need to win the argument with them rather than beat them around the head,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today show.
Javid, however, told Sky at the end of October that the risk of not being able to work due to the mandate would make unvaccinated workers come forward and get jabbed – a trend seen with care staff. The health secretary said that vaccination rates “absolutely surged” in this sector after setting a November 11 deadline for this group to have received both doses.
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