NHS workers on the frontline will be FORCED to get both doses of the Covid-19 vaccine by spring next year, according to reports.
Boris Johnson‘s Government is expected to announce the deadline, which applies to NHS workers in England, later today.
About 110,000 of more than 1.4million healthcare workers in NHS England have not yet had their first Covid jab.
Whitehall sources told the BBC those who haven’t yet been vaccinated with 110,000 believed to have not had a first dose – will now be given until spring to get both a first and second jab.
Meanwhile, the Prime Minister is under increasing pressure after a minister admitted the Government made a “mistake” by attempting to change standards rules to prevent Tory MP Owen Paterson from being suspended.
An investigation by Commons chief sleaze-buster Kathryn Stone found that Mr Paterson breached rules by lobbying for two firms that paid him £112,000.
Read our politics live blog below for the latest news & updates…
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What is going on with care homes and vaccinations?
One provider outside London has seen eight homes closed in the past five months due to staff shortage, she added.
Another in the East of England has let go of 350 staff not fully vaccinated.
Around one in five employees in Manchester, Nottingham, Westminster and Birmingham are still yet to be double-jabbed.
Some sites in the South West have stopped taking patients from hospitals.
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Boris Johnson urged to delay ‘no jab, no job’ policy for care staff
BORIS Johnson was yesterday urged to delay his “no jab, no job” policy amid fears it could spark a mass closure of care homes.
The new rules, set to be introduced on Thursday, will make the vaccine compulsory for all residential staff.
Bosses say up to 60,000 workers could be sacked from already under-staffed homes, leading to catastrophe.
Nadra Ahmed, of the National Care Association, warned: “We are at the 11th hour, and it is a ticking timebomb.
“The damage will be far reaching, but halting this now will help us get through the winter.”
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Sajid Javid said compulsory vaccination ‘the right thing to do’
Last month, Health Secretary Sajid Javid said he was leaning towards compulsory vaccination for NHS staff in England, saying it was the right thing to do to protect staff and patients.
He told the BBC he did not want the NHS to lose any staff, but said numbers taking up the vaccine in the social care sector “absolutely surged” after it was made compulsory.
NHS Providers, which represents the trusts which employ frontline workers, has previously said that vaccine mandates could encourage staff to get jabbed.
Chief executive Chris Hopson told the BBC employers wanted the deadline to be April 2022 at the earliest, to avoid the risk of losing staff when “we have a difficult winter coming up and the NHS is going to be absolutely at full stretch”.
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NHS staff ‘will be forced to get Covid vaccine with deadline for BOTH jabs by spring’
FRONTLINE NHS staff will reportedly be forced to get both doses of the Covid vaccine by spring.
The Government is expected to announce the deadline, which applies to NHS workers in England, later today.
About 110,000 of more than 1.4million healthcare workers in NHS England have not yet had their first Covid jab.
Whitehall sources told the BBC those who haven’t yet been vaccinated will now be given until spring to get both their first and second doses.
The decision follows a consultation which began in September and considered whether both the Covid and flu jabs should be compulsory for frontline NHS and care workers.
It’s understood the flu jab will not be made mandatory – and there will be exemptions for NHS staff who can’t get the Covid jab for medical reasons
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Cabinet Office minister Barclay responds to standards reform U-turn
Responding on Monday to the standards reform U-turn, Cabinet Office minister Mr Barclay said: “I’d like, first and foremost, to express my regret and that of my ministerial colleagues over the mistake made last week.
“We recognise there are concerns across the House over the standards system and also the process by which possible breaches of the code of conduct are investigated.
“Yet whilst sincerely held concerns clearly warrant further attention, the manner in which the Government approached last week’s debate conflated them with the response to an individual case.”
During the three-hour emergency debate, Mr Johnson was accused of “running scared” after deciding to follow through with his visit to an NHS hospital trust in Northumberland on Monday rather than be present to hear MPs’ criticisms of his Government’s handling of the Paterson affair.
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PM under pressure
The Prime Minister is under increasing pressure after a minister admitted the Government made a “mistake” by attempting to change standards rules to prevent a Tory MP from being suspended.
Boris Johnson skipped an emergency Commons debate on Parliament’s standards system, leaving it to the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster to respond for the Government as the Prime Minister chose to instead honour a “long-standing” commitment to visit a North East hospital.
Steve Barclay told MPs that, while there were concerns with the way allegations of wrongdoing by MPs are probed, it had been an error for ministers to proceed in the way they did last week as they sought to rip up the current rules.
The fiery debate also saw former chief whip Mark Harper call on the Prime Minister to apologise for his handling of the sleaze row which has engulfed the Conservative Party over the past week, with more recently elected Tories expressing their dissatisfaction with Downing Street’s attitude.
It comes after Tory MPs were ordered on Wednesday to vote for a new committee to consider an altered system of appeals after former environment secretary Owen Paterson was sanctioned, only for ministers to backtrack only hours later after opposition parties refused to co-operate.
