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9 September, 2021 Open access

Government launches consultation on mandatory Covid-19 and flu vaccinations for frontline health and care staff in England

Announcement also confirms that adult social care workers will need to be double jabbed against Covid-19 as a condition of deployment in CQC-regulated care homes in England by 11 November 2021

The government has launched a consultation on mandatory Covid-19 and flu vaccinations for frontline health and social care staff in England.

The six-week consultation launched today seeks views on whether health and 'wider' social care workers in contact with patients and people receiving care should be required to be fully vaccinated against Covid-19, unless medically exempt, in order to deliver health and care services.

In addition, the consultation seeks views on whether flu vaccines should also be a requirement for health and care workers.

NB - the government has already consulted on making Covid-19 vaccination mandatory for staff working in the adult social care sector and has confirmed today that, to protect care home residents, care workers will need to be double jabbed against Covid-19 as a condition of deployment in CQC-regulated care homes in England by 11 November 2021, unless exempt on medical grounds.

Health and Social Care Secretary Sajid Javid said today -

‘Many patients being treated in hospitals and other clinical settings are most at risk of suffering serious consequences of Covid-19, and we must do what we can to protect them.

It’s so clear to see the impact vaccines have against respiratory viruses which can be fatal to the vulnerable, and that’s why we’re exploring mandatory vaccines for both Covid-19 and flu.

We will consider the responses to the consultation carefully but, whatever happens, I urge the small minority of NHS staff who have not yet been jabbed to consider getting vaccinated - for their own health as well as those around them.’

For more information, see Consultation on mandatory vaccination for frontline health and care staff from gov.uk

Update (9 November 2021) - in its response to the consultation, published today, the government confirms that it will be introducing regulations to only allow providers of CQC-regulated activities to deploy individuals who have been vaccinated against Covid-19 to roles where they interact with patients and service users.