Covid-19 Vaccines Made Mandatory for NHS Workers in England
Covid-19 Vaccines Made Mandatory for NHS Workers in England
(Bloomberg) --
Frontline National Health Service workers in England must be fully vaccinated against Covid-19 by April 2022, the U.K. government announced.
Health Secretary Sajid Javid told Parliament on Tuesday the move was necessary to protect patients and other NHS staff. It follows a separate decision by the government to make vaccines compulsory for care home workers from Nov. 11.
Only those frontline NHS workers who can prove they have had two coronavirus vaccinations can be employed, Javid said. Staff who don’t work face to face with patients or are medically exempt will not face mandatory shots.
“We must avoid preventable harm and protect patients in the NHS, protect colleagues in the NHS and of course protect the NHS itself,” Javid told members of Parliament.
More than 103,000 NHS workers and 105,000 care workers have not been reported as fully vaccinated, according to the Department of Health and Social Care. There are fears, however, that making shots compulsory will mean staff walking out just when the NHS will come most under pressure in winter.
“The problem for both social care and the NHS is we run these systems incredibly hot on very, very fine margins,” Chris Hopson, chief executive of NHS Providers which represents NHS trusts, told BBC radio. Javid insisted he would work with the NHS to manage pressures on the workforce.
The policy will not apply to Covid-19 boosters or the flu vaccine but this will be kept under review, the Department of Health said in an emailed statement.
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