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Sajid Javid (pictured today) said he was ‘leaning towards’ making vaccines compulsory for NHS staff<\/p>\n
Unvaccinated NHS staff are set to be told to get their Covid jabs or lose their jobs under plans being considered by the Government.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Some 100,000 healthcare workers \u2014 or seven per cent \u2014 are still yet to show up for their first dose in England.<\/p>\n
But Health Secretary\u00a0Sajid Javid<\/a>\u00a0said bringing in compulsory jabs was the ‘clear direction of travel’, despite fears staff could quit the health service at a critical time.<\/p>\n
When asked if the plans could come in this winter, Mr Javid told Sky News: ‘I\u2019m leaning towards doing it.’<\/p>\n
He said those who had failed to get the vaccine were putting seriously ill patients in harm’s way.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said forcing vaccination on medics was a mistake, warning it could exacerbate staffing shortages among doctors and nurses.\u00a0<\/p>\n
No10’s controversial ‘no jab, no job’ policy is already in care homes and staff working in elderly residences must be jabbed by November 11.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Care bosses have warned many homes will be forced to close because they won’t be able to find enough vaccinated workers.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Studies show the vaccines dramatically reduce a person’s risk of being hospitalised or dying from Covid, but they are slightly less effective at stopping transmission.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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The above graph shows the proportion of NHS staff that have been vaccinated against Covid in England. There are some 100,000 employees who are yet to get their first jab<\/p>\n
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When asked whether Covid vaccines will be made compulsory for NHS workers, Mr Javid told Sky News: ‘I\u2019m leaning towards doing it.<\/p>\n
‘There\u2019s around 100,000 that are not (vaccinated in the NHS) at this point but what we saw with the care sector is that when we announced the policy\u2026 then we saw many more people come forward and do the right thing and get vaccinated.<\/p>\n
Elderly and vulnerable care home residents could be left at higher risk of catching Covid-19 because of the Government\u2019s ban on unvaccinated staff, it is feared.<\/p>\n
Under a tough new law, more than 40,000 frontline carers will be forced out of their jobs within weeks after refusing to get the jab.<\/p>\n
But providers were already struggling to fill record numbers of vacancies and say they will be forced to close units, floors or even entire residential homes if they cannot meet required staffing levels from November 11.<\/p>\n
This could mean pensioners being moved into hospital wards, where they could be looked after by unvaccinated former care home staff as the \u2018no jab, no job\u2019 rule does not currently apply in the NHS.<\/p>\n
Care industry bosses are pleading with ministers to put the mandatory vaccination order on hold during the winter, when the health service is already expected to come under huge pressure from another wave of coronavirus cases as well as a resurgence in flu.<\/p>\n
Professor Martin Green, chief executive of trade body Care England, said: \u2018The Government talks about an integrated system and yet they have not imposed the same rules for vaccination on the NHS. If we have a really severe staff shortage, services will close.<\/p>\n
\u2018It will mean the residents will lose their homes but also that the system will have to find them somewhere else to live and that may put extra pressure on the NHS.\u2019<\/p>\n
‘That\u2019s what I hope, if we can do the same thing with the NHS, we will see.’<\/p>\n
He added: ‘If they haven\u2019t got vaccinated by now then there is an issue about patient safety and that\u2019s something the Government will take very seriously.’<\/p>\n
No final decision on the plans has been made, and Mr Javid said it would take ‘some time’ to go through parliament \u2014 giving people time to get jabbed.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
But he added: ‘I don\u2019t want to put a timeframe on it but it wouldn\u2019t be months and months.’<\/p>\n
On BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Mr Javid said: ‘We have not made the final decision… but we did have a consultation on that and that closed just a couple of weeks ago.\u00a0<\/p>\n
‘While I’m yet to make the final decision, that is my direction of travel.’<\/p>\n
Asked whether this would spark staffing shortages as seen in the social care sector, Mr Javid said: ‘If we do look at that as an example when we announced that \u2014 it is soon about to become the legal requirement \u2014 we have seen an absolute surge in the number of social care\u00a0 workers that are finally getting their vaccinations.\u00a0<\/p>\n
‘We are told by the CQC there’s around 30,000 at the moment out of a workforce of over a million that have not yet had their vaccination. Of those, a substantial portion will be exempt.<\/p>\n
‘So, while there will be an impact on the social care workforce\u00a0 that I would rather not see I think the NET result is a safer social care sector.’\u00a0<\/p>\n
Labour has stopped short of supporting the plans, but said all NHS workers should be ‘encouraged’ to get vaccinated.<\/p>\n
Sir Keir said: ‘I think we should encourage all NHS staff to be double-vaccinated and give them the support that they need.\u00a0<\/p>\n
‘I would not make it mandatory.\u00a0I think that risks lots of people losing their jobs.\u00a0<\/p>\n
‘We\u2019ve got a crisis coming down the tracks for the nhs and it could be a very, very difficult winter.\u00a0The last thing we can afford is for thousands of people to be pushed out of their jobs in the nhs.<\/p>\n
‘The regime that\u2019s been running for the last nine months or so \u2014 my wife works in the nhs \u2014 is to be either double-jabbed or take negative tests three times a week. That\u2019s what I would focus on rather than going down the route of mandatory vaccination.’<\/p>\n
Ministers launched a six-week consultation on compulsory vaccinations for NHS staff at the beginning of last month. Its results are yet to be published.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Some vaccines are already required in parts of the NHS, including the Hepatitis B vaccine for all those working in exposure-prone parts of the health service such as surgery.<\/p>\n
Most people who catch the virus are able to clear the infection, but in rare cases it can trigger liver failure, a potentially fatal complication.<\/p>\n
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Sajid Javid today ditched his call for Tory MPs to wear face masks in the House of Commons as he said it is a ‘personal decision’.<\/p>\n
The Health Secretary last week urged his colleagues to wear coverings as he said MPs ‘have a role to play to set an example’.<\/p>\n
He has now backed down after a Cabinet row but said he personally will be wearing a mask whenever the Commons chamber is ‘packed’.<\/p>\n
Current guidance in England is to wear masks in crowded and enclosed spaces where individuals ‘come into contact with people you don’t normally meet’.<\/p>\n
Mr Javid was told at a Downing Street press conference last week that Tory MPs failing to wear masks in the Commons left the Government open to accusations of not practicing what it preaches.<\/p>\n
The Health Secretary said at the time: ‘We also have a role to play to set an example as private individuals as well, I think that’s a very fair point and I’m sure a lot of people will have heard you.’\u00a0<\/p>\n
NHS leaders have a ‘mixed’ view on compulsory vaccines for NHS workers, according to Dr Layla McCay, director of policy at the NHS Confederation.<\/p>\n
She told Times Radio: ‘We\u2019ve spoken to our members about this, and it\u2019s a bit of a mixed picture because most of them agree that in some ways, mandating the vaccine could be quite helpful to make sure that more people get the vaccine.<\/p>\n
‘But on the other hand, if some people decide they don\u2019t want the vaccine that could lead to staff recruitment and retention problems and we\u2019re going into this incredibly challenging winter.<\/p>\n
‘If we start to lose staff during this time that could be incredibly challenging, so it\u2019s a it\u2019s a real balance.’<\/p>\n
Professor Jeremy Brown, an expert in respiratory medicine at University College London Hospitals, who sits on the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, told Sky News: ‘If you\u2019re frontline NHS staff dealing with patients and meeting the general public you should be vaccinated \u2013 it\u2019s a professional thing, it\u2019s a safety thing.<\/p>\n
‘We know that quite a few infections have occurred in the hospital have potentially come from staff rather than patients.<\/p>\n
‘And if you\u2019re not vaccinated, I feel, you shouldn\u2019t be dealing with patients or the general public \u2013 whether it should be compulsory it is always a tricky thing, but I do think it professionally each person should be vaccinated.’<\/p>\n
He said he would not answer a question about whether staff should lose their jobs if they were not vaccinated, but added: ‘I think they should change their role, perhaps, not lose their job.’<\/p>\n
Care home bosses already fear they may have to close because of the Government’s ban on unvaccinated staff, with 40,000 frontline workers still to get jabbed.<\/p>\n
Providers were already struggling to fill record numbers of vacancies, and say they will likely need to close units, floors or even entire residential homes when the policy comes in to force.<\/p>\n
This could mean pensioners are moved to hospital wards, where they could be looked after by unvaccinated former care home workers.<\/p>\n
Care industry bosses are already pleading with ministers to put compulsory vaccination orders on hold over the winter, when they are already expecting to come under huge pressure from Covid and flu.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Sajid Javid (pictured today) said he was ‘leaning towards’ making vaccines compulsory for NHS staff Unvaccinated NHS staff are set to be told to get their Covid jabs or lose their jobs under plans being considered by the Government.\u00a0 Some 100,000 healthcare workers \u2014 or seven per cent \u2014 are still yet to show up Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-284537","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/284537","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=284537"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/284537\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=284537"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=284537"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=284537"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}