By Mandatory vaccinations for all NHS staff by April
Health Secretary Sajid Javid has announced that all NHS staff will be required to have the Covid vaccine by April 1 2022.
Speaking to MPs in the House of Commons, Mr Javid announced that regulations will be put forward to the House, to make vaccine uptake mandatory amongst all NHS staff beyond the existing requirement for care home staff.
It is believed that 91 per cent of NHS staff have received two doses, however the minister said that “we need this figure to go even higher.”
“There are still approximately 94,000 NHS staff who are unvaccinated,” he continued.
It’s critical to patient safety that health and care staff get the jab to protect some of the most vulnerable people who are in their care and also keep the health service strong in the wake of omicron.
“The NHS itself has weighed up this decision and there may be some people who choose to leave the NHS, but there’s also here an issue of patient safety. That is also the view of the NHS.”
The Health Secretary also stated that any NHS staff who go unvaccinated and lose their job as a result, would not be entitled to a redundancy package.
The bill will go to a vote in the House of Commons later today [14 December], where it is expected to go through due to Labour support, however up to 70 Conservative MPs are expected to rebel against their government.
Mr Javid did clarify that he would “never support” mandatory vaccination, nationwide, in this country and also said that the vaccination mandate being introduced to the NHS would not be extended to other sectors.
The booster will be required to be considered “fully vaccinated”, meaning that the booster will be required to make a valid ‘vaccine passport’.
