Mandatory Covid vaccinations for NHS workforce and health care workers have been dropped, Health Secretary Sajid Javid has confirmed.

In the current situation, front-line NHS workers in England must be fully vaccinated by the 1st of April, which means they would need to get the first dose by Thursday. If they refuse to comply by getting the jab by April, they will be dismissed or redeployed. Yet, around 77,000 NHS staff are unvaccinated.

Last week, Health Secretary Sajid Javid said the vaccine requirement was being „kept under review” but that it was the “duty of NHS staff to get vaccinated.”

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The government has been under pressure from some within the health service to scrap the mandate, amid warnings that it would lead to an unprecedented staffing crisis.

The Royal College of Midwives warned the policy could have a „catastrophic impact” on maternity services, while the Royal College of GPs and Royal College of Nursing called for the deadline to be delayed.

Protests against the policy have been held in several cities across the UK. The face of this wave of discontent is undoubtedly Dr Steve James, who first shared his critical views regarding the perspective of compulsory jabs directly with Health Secretary Sajid Javid while the latter was paying a visit to a hospital. 

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On Monday the 31st of January, the tide has turned. “Given that Delta has been replaced, it’s only right that our policy on vaccination as a condition of deployment is reviewed. So I asked for fresh advice, including from the UK Health Security Agency and England’s chief medical officer,” Javid said.

“The second factor is that the dominant variant, Omicron, is intrinsically less severe. When taken together with the first factor that we now have greater population protection, the evidence shows that the risk of presentation to emergency care or hospital admission with Omicron is approximately half of that for Delta. Given these dramatic changes, it is not only right but responsible to revisit the balance of risks and opportunities that guided our original decision last year,” he further explained.

“While vaccination remains our very best line of defence against Covid-19, I believe that it is no longer proportionate to require vaccination as a condition of deployment through statute. (…) So I’m announcing that we will launch a consultation on ending vaccination as a condition of deployment in health and all social care sectors,” the Health Secretary announced. 

Not only will NHS staff and care workers no longer need to be jabbed in order to keep their job, but tens of thousands of unvaccinated nursing home workers will be allowed back to perform their profession after being fired in autumn for not having complied.

Photos: British Poles

Author: Sebastien Meuwissen