Sajid Javid admits he is ‘leaning towards’ making Covid vaccines compulsory for all NHS staff

Unvaccinated NHS staff are set to be told to get their Covid jabs or lose their jobs under plans being considered by the Government. 

Some 100,000 healthcare workers — or seven per cent of NHS employees — are still yet to show up for their first dose.

But Health Secretary Sajid Javid admitted today he was ‘leaning towards’ making the vaccines compulsory for all NHS workers. 

He said those who had failed to get the jab were leaving seriously ill patients at risk of catching and dying from the virus.

Labour said today NHS staff should be ‘encouraged’ to get the vaccine, but that this should not be compulsory. Sir Keir Starmer said the policy would risk pushing thousands out of the health service ahead of a ‘very, very difficult winter’.

Care home staff are already required to get the Covid vaccine to work in the sector, with all expected to be jabbed by November 11.

But this has sparked uproar in the care sector which warns many homes will be forced to close because they won’t be able to find enough vaccinated workers.

It is feared a ‘no jab, no job’ policy could exacerbate staffing shortages in the NHS, with thousands of doctors and nurses positions still unfilled. 

Studies show vaccines are safe and slash the risk of someone becoming seriously ill or dying from the virus. They also reduce the risk of catching it in the first place. 

When asked whether Covid vaccines will be made compulsory for NHS workers, Mr Javid told Sky News: ‘I’m leaning towards doing it.

‘There’s around 100,000 that are not (vaccinated in the NHS) at this point but what we saw with the care sector is that when we announced the policy… then we saw many more people come forward and do the right thing and get vaccinated.

‘That’s what I hope, if we can do the same thing with the NHS, we will see.’

He added: ‘If they haven’t got vaccinated by now then there is an issue about patient safety and that’s something the Government will take very seriously.’

No final decision on the plans has been made, and Mr Javid said it would take ‘some time’ to go through parliament — giving people time to get jabbed.  

But he added: ‘I don’t want to put a timeframe on it but it wouldn’t be months and months.’

On Times radio, Mr Javid said: ‘We’ve been very clear and open about this, working with our friends in the NHS, and the reason for this is if you’re working in the NHS, that fantastic work you’re doing every day, you yourself are more susceptible to this virus because you’re just much more likely to come into contact with it. 

‘But also the people that you’re looking after are more vulnerable and that’s why they’re in hospital, they’ve got health needs, and this is about protecting them and protecting yourself.’

Labour has stopped short of supporting the plans, but said all NHS workers should be ‘encouraged’ to get vaccinated.

Sir Keir said: ‘I think we should encourage all NHS staff to be double-vaccinated and give them the support that they need. 

‘I would not make it mandatory. I think that risks lots of people losing their jobs. 

‘We’ve got a crisis coming down the tracks for the nhs and it could be a very very difficult winter. 

‘The last thing we can afford is for thousands of people to be pushed out of their jobs in the nhs.

‘The regime that’s been running for the last nine months or so — my wife works in the nhs — is to be either double-jabbed or take negative tests three times a week. 

‘That’s the regime in our household and that’s worked very well for the last nine months. So that’s what I would focus on rather than going down the route of mandatory vaccination.’

NHS leaders have a ‘mixed’ view on compulsory vaccines for NHS workers, Dr Layla McCay, director of policy at the NHS Confederation, said.

She told Times Radio: ‘We’ve spoken to our members about this, and it’s a bit of a mixed picture because most of them agree that in some ways, mandating the vaccine could be quite helpful to make sure that more people get the vaccine.

‘But on the other hand, if some people decide they don’t want the vaccine that could lead to staff recruitment and retention problems and we’re going into this incredibly challenging winter.

‘If we start to lose staff during this time that could be incredibly challenging, so it’s a it’s a real balance.’

Jeremy Brown, professor of respiratory medicine at University College London Hospitals, who sits on the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, told Sky News: ‘If you’re frontline NHS staff dealing with patients and meeting the general public you should be vaccinated – it’s a professional thing, it’s a safety thing.

‘We know that quite a few infections have occurred in the hospital have potentially come from staff rather than patients.

‘And if you’re not vaccinated, I feel, you shouldn’t be dealing with patients or the general public – whether it should be compulsory it is always a tricky thing, but I do think it professionally each person should be vaccinated.’

He said he would not answer a question about whether staff should lose their jobs if they were not vaccinated, but added: ‘I think they should change their role, perhaps, not lose their job.’

Care home bosses already fear they may have to close because of the Government’s ban on unvaccinated staff, with 40,000 frontline workers still to get jabbed.

Providers were already struggling to fill record numbers of vacancies, and say they will likely need to close units, floors or even entire residential homes when the policy comes in to force.

This could mean pensioners are moved to hospital wards, where they could be looked after by unvaccinated former care home workers.

Care industry bosses are already pleading with ministers to put compulsory vaccination orders on hold over the winter, when they are already expecting to come under huge pressure from Covid and flu.