The Health Secretary has warned that NHS staff could be required by law to be vaccinated for Covid.
Sajid Javid admitted he was ‘leaning towards’ the ‘no jab, no job’ policy for health workers in a round of interviews this morning, with 100,000 still yet to be jabbed.
He maintained that no final decision was made, though vaccines are required for care home workers.
Mr Javid stated that leaving staff unvaccinated meant there was a ‘problem about patient safety’ and he advocated mandatory jabs.
All care home staff must be fully vaccinated against this virus by November 11.
However, many care homes have warned that the policy could lead to chaos. Homes will be forced to either close down or break the law to adhere to the policy.
Sajid Javid (pictured today), stated that he was ‘leaning towards making compulsory vaccines for NHS staff
When asked about making jabs mandatory for NHS staff, Mr Javid told Sky News: ‘I’m leaning towards doing it.
‘There’s 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… then we saw many more people come forward and do the right thing and get vaccinated.
‘That’s what I hope, if we can do the same thing with the NHS, we will see.’
He added: ‘If they haven’t got vaccinated by now then there is an issue about patient safety and that’s something the Government will take very seriously.’
Mr Javid declined to specify when the move would be in force. He said that it would take some time for Parliament to approve it and that he would want to give people plenty of time to make their case.
But he added: ‘I don’t want to put a timeframe on it but it wouldn’t be months and months.’
Health Secretary Sajid Javid said a final decision on making vaccination mandatory for all NHS staff had not been taken yet ‘but it is something that I’m heading towards’.
He told Times Radio: ‘We’ve been very clear and open about this, working with our friends in the NHS, and the reason for this is if you’re working in the NHS, that fantastic work you’re doing every day, you yourself are more susceptible to this virus because you’re just much more likely to come into contact with it.
‘But also the people that you’re looking after are more vulnerable and that’s why they’re in hospital, they’ve got health needs, and this is about protecting them and protecting yourself.’
Dr Layla McCay (director of policy at NHS Confederation) stated that the NHS leaders have a mixed opinion on mandatory vaccinations for NHS workers.
She told Times Radio: ‘We’ve spoken to our members about this, and it’s 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.
‘But on the other hand, if some people decide they don’t want the vaccine that could lead to staff recruitment and retention problems and we’re going into this incredibly challenging winter.
‘If we start to lose staff during this time that could be incredibly challenging, so it’s a it’s a real balance.’