COVID-19: Government opens consultations on plans to make vaccination mandatory for frontline health workers | UK news

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A six-week consultation has begun on plans to make COVID-19 and flu vaccinations mandatory for frontline healthcare workers, the government announced.

Ministers will hear experts on whether workers in the sector should be fully vaccinated in order to contact patients and people receiving care. Only those with valid medical reasons will be exempted.

Welfare Secretary Helen Whatley told Kay Burley on Thursday that the move was “the right thing to do” but she understood it was a “difficult question”.

PHOTO: Welfare Secretary Helen Whatley said mandatory vaccination of care staff was the ‘right thing to do’

“The situation is here, you know – viewers will know, that nursing homes have had a hard time in this pandemic and that we have very sadly seen many residents of nursing homes die from coronavirus because they are the most vulnerable,” she said on Sky News.

“It has to be the right thing to do to give them the best possible protection.”

Ms Whatley added: “The reality is that one of the best ways we can protect people who live in care homes is to make sure that staff are vaccinated – yes, continuous testing, and weekly staff testing is also important – but vaccinations are really an important part of protecting those who live. in nursing homes.

When asked if she acknowledges that the compulsory vaccination of work in the sector will lead to a shortage of staff, the care minister added: “I know that the sector is facing huge numbers of vacancies and that there is a great deal of turnover.”

Ms Whatley continued: “In fact, 90% of care home workers have been vaccinated. There is still time for vaccination.

“The big question has to be good if you don’t want to get vaccinated, how do you keep going, how can it be right to continue caring for people who are already exposed to coronavirus?”

Picture: New data shows vaccine uptake rates between NHS funds can vary from around 78% to 94% for both doses.

According to the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), about 92% of NHS trust staff have received a single dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, with 88% of staff receiving both doses.

But the new data suggests that absorption rates between NHS institutions can vary from about 78% to 94% for both doses.

The government previously said that all staff in registered care homes in England must be vaccinated against COVID-19 from 11 November, unless they are medically exempt.

The Scientific Advisory Group on Emergencies (Sage) has already suggested that intersectoral overlap makes a strong scientific case for similar approaches to vaccination.

The DHSC said the consultation would examine the scope of the plan and any potential impact that mandating vaccines could have on staff and safety, such as reducing sickness absence for staff.

Speaking to Sky News on Thursday, Shadow Communities Secretary Steve Reed said making vaccinations mandatory for care home employees would “turn workers away” and leave the elderly and vulnerable without care.

Last week, Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Consortium, which represents the frontline healthcare system in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, told Sky News that mandatory vaccination was not an issue that needed to be addressed.

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Booster jab is expected this month.

Speaking to The Trevor Phillips Show on Sunday, Taylor said requiring all NHS staff to be arrested as a condition of employment was “not necessary”.

He said: “The vast majority of NHS staff choose to get vaccinated and what’s important is to support people or give them a chance to get vaccinated, so I think we want to say that there is no necessity for coercion, in order to monitor people at this point, because the staff themselves are doing the right thing.”

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The consultation will also assess whether influenza vaccinations should be a mandatory requirement and who can be included in the policy.

National influenza vaccination rates in the health services increased from 14% in 2002 to 76% last year. But in some places, rates are as high as 53%.

Staff, healthcare providers, stakeholders, patients and their families are urged to participate in the consultation, with a final decision expected this winter.

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Influenza vaccine supplier warning of delays

Health Minister Sajid Javid urged all employees to get vaccinated, regardless of the outcome of the consultation.

He said: “Many patients treated in hospitals and other clinical settings are most at risk of suffering severe consequences of COVID-19, and we must do what we can to protect them.

“It is very clear to see the effect of vaccines on respiratory viruses that can be fatal to the vulnerable, which is why we are exploring mandatory vaccinations for both COVID-19 and influenza.

“We will consider responses to the consultation carefully, but whatever happens, I urge the small minority of NHS staff who are not yet vaccinated to consider getting vaccinated – for their health as well as those around them.”

The care industry has previously expressed concern about the impact that mandatory vaccination could have on already stressful employment levels in the sector.

UNISON is calling on ministers to stop “sleepwalking toward disaster” and end the “no cake, no job” rule, claiming it’s the only way to avoid an employment crisis.

Last month, the Institute for Health and Social Care Administration conducted a survey of more than 1,000 care managers in partnership with the Palestinian Authority News Agency.

The survey found that nine out of 10 managers said their workplace was understaffed or having difficulty hiring.

A third of managers (32.8%) said they had employees who quit or handed over their notification about the vaccination requirement, while more than half (55.2%) said they feared having to fire employees over the coming months because they didn’t. was vaccinated.

Government projections indicate that as many as 40,000 of the more than half a million care workers in the country will not be fully vaccinated by the November 11 deadline.

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