Care staff miss deadline for jab
HUNDREDS of care home staff in Cheshire appear to have missed the deadline for getting a mandatory Covid vaccination.
From November 11, all care home workers – and anyone entering a care home – will need to be fully vaccinated, unless exempt.
In order for those covered by the regulations to be vaccinated in time, they must have had their first jab by September 16.
In Cheshire, 92.6 per cent of staff working in older adult care homes, or 9,477 people, had received their first vaccination by the week ending September 19.
However, that leaves 753 people working in those homes who hadn’t had their first jab by the deadline.
Among those working in younger adult care homes, 85.3 per cent of staff had received their first vaccination by September 19.
That left 202 people not vaccinated in time.
That means 955 workers across older adult care homes and younger adult care homes may not have been vaccinated in time.
As the deadline for getting the jab arrived, UNISON warned of catastrophic staff shortages unless the mandatory jab policy was dropped.
It said there were more than 112,000 vacancies in care and the government itself had predicted the loss of 40,000 to 70,000 workers because of its
“no jab, no job” care homes policy.