Care home staff face Covid vaccine decision

Nearly 300 care home workers in Sunderland have yet to have a Covid vaccination – as the jabs become compulsory for staff.

Care home workers are being given 16 weeks to get fully vaccinated from the time new legislation is approved by Parliament and health secretary Matt Hancock said the move, set to take effect from October, was aimed at protecting the most vulnerable from the virus.

NHS figures show that, in Sunderland, 272 out of 2,206 eligible staff, including agency workers, at older adult care homes had not received a first dose by June 13 – 12% of all those eligible for the vaccine.

That proportion has fallen slightly from April 11 – soon after the plans for mandatory vaccinations first emerged – when 15% were unvaccinated.

The decision to make jabs for care home staff compulsory followed a five-week consultation.

Mr Hancock said“Vaccines save lives and while staff and residents in care homes have been prioritised and the majority are now vaccinated we need to do everything we can to keep reducing the risk.”

But the approach has disappointed some leaders in the care sector.

Nadra Ahmed, chief executive of the National Care Association, said: "I don't know why the Government can't carry on persuading people to have the vaccine rather than creating a legislative pathway which is so oppressive.

Unison general secretary Christina M cA ne a said :“The Government’s sledgehammer approach now runs the risk that some care staff may simply walk away.”