13,000 care home workers not vaccinated

NEARLY one in five staff working in North East and Yorkshire care homes for the elderly have still not been vaccinated – even though they were among the first in the queue for a Covid-19 vaccine.

The NHS figures suggest more than 13,000 care home workers in the region are poitentially choosing not to be vaccinated.

It comes with the Government set to announce it has met its target of offering a vaccine to everyone aged 50 and over, and will now vaccinate people in their 40s.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson had promised to get the vaccine to over-50s by April 15, but the Government appears to have met the target with days to spare.

Residents and staff in care homes for older adults were first in line to be vaccinated, when the rollout began in January. It meant staff of all ages were given priority over the very elderly not in care homes. But

NHS figures show that just 81.8% of eligible care home staff in the North East and Yorkshire have been vaccinated.

There are 74,558 care home staff eligible for the jab because they work in care homes for the elderly.

However, just 61,011 of these have had at least one dose of a vaccine, meaning 13,547 have not been vaccinated. The NHS figures do not explain why staff have not had the vaccine.