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7 January, 2022 Open access

Requiring health and social care staff to have received complete course of Covid-19 vaccination

New statutory instrument

New regulations have been issued in relation to requiring health and social care staff to have received a complete course of an authorised Covid-19 vaccination.

Made on 6 January 2022, the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) (Amendment) (Coronavirus) (No. 2) Regulations 2022 (SI.No.15/2022) make a number of amendments to the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 (SI.No.2936/2014) including to -

NB - the explanatory memorandum to the regulations advises that -

'The government recognises that there are concerns about the potential impacts of the regulations on workforce pressures and the pressures on services, particularly over winter. We are taking action, in collaboration with the NHS and adult social care sector, to mitigate these risks and continue to encourage workers to take up the vaccine. This includes:

  • the 12-week grace period, allowing time for both workforce planning, and for those colleagues who are not yet vaccinated, to make the positive choice to protect the people they care for, as well as themselves;
  • committing to an enforcement date of the 1 April 2022 to assist providers over the winter period and help minimise workforce pressures;
  • reducing the time employers have to wait in order to deploy a new worker – now a worker can be deployed 21 days after their first dose, rather than having to wait 8 weeks;
  • increasing engagement with health and care workers on vaccinations and the opportunities for vaccination to further reduce the size of the unvaccinated workforce ahead of requirements coming into force; and
  • additional funding for health and care services to support service delivery during winter.'

SI.No.15/2022 is available from legislation.gov.uk