Care staff may have to sign new job contracts so they take up jab

HUNDREDS of thousands of care home workers could have to sign new contracts as part of a bid to force them to have the coronavirus jab, ministers have admitted.

Only around two thirds of care home workers have agreed to a Covid-19 jab, say ministers.

The Daily Telegraph disclosed last week that care home workers could be required by law to have a Covid-19 jab under a historic legal change.

An announcement could come as early as next week from Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister.

Ministers feel compelled to act amid alarm at the low take-up of vaccines among staff in care homes, where many of those most at risk from the virus live.

Only around a quarter of care homes in London, and half in some parts of England, have reached the level of vaccination among staff and residents deemed safe by government scientists. However, there are concerns that any change could take months to implement because of a requirement to change the contracts of healthcare workers to make it a condition of work.

Penny Mordaunt, a Cabinet Office minister, admitted in a Commons debate that “contracts would have to be rewritten if vaccinations were to be made compulsory”.

William Wragg, a senior Tory MP, asked whether it was conceivable that a care home owner would say to their workers “Unless you take this jab, you’ll be dismissed from your employment?”

With more than one million care workers in the UK, it could present logistical challenges to require them all to sign new contracts of employment.

One Cabinet minister said that it would take time by varying all existing contracts and “that might be tested in court”. The minister said there would have to be medical exemptions for those who could not be vaccinated. But there had to be “some sort of intervention”. They added: “There is a clear public health interest in making sure that people working in care homes are vaccinated – both residents and workers.

“There is clear Sage evidence to suggest if you get 80 per cent of the staff and 90 per cent of the residents vaccinated you can then say that the premises are safe for the purposes of Covid.”

Separately Michael Gove, the Cabinet Office minister, is to host a meeting with senior MPs and peers tomorrow to allay fears about plans for vaccine passports. One source said: “It is a listening exercise.” The Cabinet Office’s website says the review is assessing “whether Covid-status certification could play a role in reopening the economy”.

Government sources indicated that a review of the passports will not be completed until the end of April “at the earliest” and then an app would have to be built. The source said any suggestion the app will be running by May when pubs can serve indoors is “bonkers”.