Government set to make Covid-19 vaccines mandatory for NHS frontline workers

The government is expected to make Covid-19 vaccines mandatory for frontline NHS workers, under a new policy set to be unveiled today.

Employees in the health service are expected to be given a deadline of next spring to be double-jabbed against the disease.

The government declined to comment on the matter first thing on Tuesday, but BBC News reports that an announcement confirming the decision is expected later today.

NHS managers said they were expecting the change. Chris Hopson, chief executive of NHS Providers, told BBC Radio 5Live: “That’s what we’re expecting today – that there will be a mandatory vaccination deadline – [like the one] that has been introduced in [care homes], so it wouldn’t be a surprise if that was introduced in the NHS.”

Asked about the reported policy change, Dominic Raab, the deputy prime minister, said: “I don’t comment on leaked reports about what the Government may or may not do, and that’s just not the professional thing for a minister to do.

“Obviously, we set out our announcements on this in the usual way. I think it’s right to say that we’ve been very mindful of encouraging greater take-up – or maximum take-up if you like – of the vaccination and the boosters to go with it, but not just across the country at large, but particularly in vulnerable settings, like care homes and in the NHS.”

NHS Providers boss Mr Hopson said that if mandatory vaccination for NHS staff was approached in the right way it could have a positive effect on vaccine uptake.

He argued that an extended deadline for getting vaccinated would mean that hospitals could discuss concerns with vaccine-hesitant staff to explain that “it is in their interests and their patients’ interests to get vaccinated”.

But he added that the NHS and the social care sector losing “significant numbers of staff” would be a “real problem”.

“I suspect that come the deadline, whenever it is set, there will still be some staff who are adamant that they don’t want to get vaccinated and that is a very significant risk for the NHS,” he said.

“The problem for both social care and the NHS is we run these systems incredibly hot on very, very fine margins. Both of us have got around 90 to 100,000 vacancies.

“We are completely reliant on our staff to … work extra shifts in order to do the work that needs to be done. So losing significant numbers of staff, particularly given the pressure that both of the systems are under at the moment, is a real, real problem.

“And that’s why we’re very clear with the Government they need to help us manage this risk.”

Approached about the apparently impending policy announcement, a Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “We have taken action to introduce vaccination requirements in care homes and we recently consulted on extending this further across health and other social care services. We will set out our response in due course.

“Vaccines are safe and effective and almost 4 in 5 people in the UK have already had both jabs to protect themselves against COVID-19. It’s never too late to take up the offer and we would urge everyone who is eligible to come forward as we head into the winter months.”