Sajid Javid defends ‘no jab, no job’ policy for NHS workers despite warnings of mass staff exodus

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Sajid Javid today defended the Government’s ‘perfectly reasonable’ compulsory Covid jab policy for all frontline NHS staff, despite official estimates showing it may only convince one in six unvaccinated workers to come forward. 

Official projections last night showed the ‘no jab, no job’ rule — which ministers confirmed yesterday after weeks of mounting speculation — would only spur on 20,000 workers to get vaccinated, forcing 70,000 out the door when it gets enforced in April. 

Unions have warned the controversial policy threatens to do more harm than good by exacerbating crippling staff shortages across England’s health service, which already has in the region of 100,000 vacancies. 

But the Health Secretary stuck by the move, saying it was the ‘duty’ of NHS workers to get the jab in order to protect patients, and insisted that he does ‘not want to see anyone have to walk away from their job’.

‘This is all about patient safety, we know vaccines work, we know that they reduce the risk of you being infected, so it reduces the spread of an infection,’ he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. 

‘People whether they are in care homes or a hospital bed, they are particularly vulnerable to this virus, it could be fatal. It is our duty to everything we can to protect them.’ 

Mr Javid said the public would have questioned why they did not introduce the policy, when other countries around he world have. ‘I think you’d have me on the show saying “why didn’t you do anything about it?”,’ he said.

Unvaccinated NHS staff have angrily questioned the ‘no jab, no job’ policy and threatened to leave their positions rather than get inoculated. Trainee GP Dr Reamika West claimed it was ‘unethical’ for ministers to force her to get fully vaccinated by threatening to terminate her contract. 

Meanwhile, No10 was today urged to delay the same controversial ‘no jab, no job’ policy for carers until the spring to match the same timeline set for NHS workers, over fears the plans could backfire and kill elderly residents.

From tomorrow, all care home employees must have had two Covid vaccines to keep their jobs. Estimates suggest up to 60,000 workers will be made redundant. Unions have already claimed hundreds of homes may be forced to close their doors for good from tomorrow because of staffing shortages. The sector was already short of 100,000 workers before the pandemic struck. 

Defending the vaccine mandate, Mr Javid told Sky News: ‘I don’t want to see anyone lose their job, I don’t want to see anyone have to walk away from their job.

‘I just do think it is important to be doing everything we can, because also what I don’t want to see – most of all what I don’t want to see – is someone… that’s vulnerable being exposed to Covid when it could have been prevented, and perhaps they might even die from that, and I think that would be totally unacceptable.’

He added: ‘I’m not pretending, nobody is saying that you could have a 100 per cent method of protecting them.

‘But what you can do is reduce the chances of them becoming infected, and I think it is perfectly reasonable to say to everyone that works in health and care, please take this vaccine.

‘Some 93 per cent have had at least one shot and that’s fantastic to see. There’s still around 100,000 we estimate in the NHS that have not.’ 

Speaking to LBC, he added: ‘The vast majority of NHS workers are already vaccinated and I want to, of course, thank them for that.

‘They’ve done that not only to protect themselves or their colleagues, most of all I think they’ve done it to protect their patients.

‘We know that people in hospital, they’re already very vulnerable, and the last thing they want is to be exposed to Covid when it could have been prevented, and that can be fatal for them in that condition.

‘I think, ultimately, this is the right call – it is the duty of the NHS and the Government to do everything that we can to protect vulnerable people.’

He added: ‘Let’s think about the situation where that nurse stayed in that role or remained unvaccinated and was perhaps infected by Covid asymptomatically, not even knowing, going around ward to ward, patient to patient, perhaps it’s your grandma, your uncle, your grand-dad, and infecting them. 

‘I think you’d have me on the show saying “why didn’t you do anything about it?”.’ 

Mr Javid also described the Government projection that 70,000 staff would leave the NHS as a result of the ‘no jab no job’ as a ‘cautious’ estimate, adding that Government will be working with NHS to support and provide staff with knowledge to get the vaccine rather than focus on replacing them. 

‘Whilst this will be challenging for the sector… it is something that is manageable,’ he said.

Danny Mortimer, chief executive of NHS Employers, said a ‘majority of NHS leaders do understand and do support the mandation of the Covid vaccine’.

He added that the NHS was ‘grateful for that bit of extra time’ before the April deadline for frontline workers to be double jabbed as the service enters ‘absolutely our busiest period’ with winter approaching.

He told Times Radio: ‘Clearly, what we need to focus on between now and April is talking to people, engaging with them.’

‘If there are misunderstandings or misapprehensions about the vaccine, reassuring people, educating them and that’s the job of the next four or five months.’

He added: ‘Any situation where we lose people just puts extra strain on services and I think as the Government acknowledged in its own impact assessment risks impacting on service delivery.’

‘We only have so many people and that may impact on what we can do, but as I’ve said, one step at a time. The issue now is to focus on engaging with people and trying to persuade them and explain to them the benefits to them and their families, as well as to their colleagues and patients, of having the vaccine.’

The Government’s Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has also come out in broad support of the vaccine mandate. 

JCVI member Dr Maggie Wearmouth described it as ‘blunt instrument’ but told LBC Radio: ‘I’m broadly in favour of this move’ 

‘I think legislation is a blunt instrument, but as frontline health and social care workers our goal and our main responsibility should be the health and protection of the very vulnerable, frail and elderly patients in our care.’

The white paper into the impact of the Government’s ‘no jab no job’ policy for the NHS, set to be implemented on 1 April, was published last night.   

The document estimates that just 22,000 of the 125,000 currently unvaccinated staff — including medics, cleaners, porters and receptionists — will get their Covid jabs by that deadline.

It also shows that ministers expect 73,000 not to come forward for the vaccines and by default lose their job.  The remaining 30,000 are medically exempt. 

Trade union GMB warned the ‘bulldozing’ policy will only worsen the ‘crushing’ staffing crisis. The health service already had around 100,000 vacancies before Covid struck, including a shortfall of 10,000 doctors and 35,000 nurses. 

Unvaccinated staff have already threatened to quit on the back of the announcement, with one trainee nurse telling MailOnline it was a ‘kick in the teeth’ after working tirelessly on wards through the pandemic. 

Ryan Balment, 38, was set to graduate as a nurse in two years, but says he will now become a dog trainer. 

Mr Balment, from Devon, told MailOnline: ‘I would rather leave the health service than be told to have something that I don’t know is 100 per cent effective.’

He added: ‘I am quite disappointed because I feel that I have worked throughout the pandemic and a lot of people I know have worked throughout the pandemic.

‘To suddenly be told that unless you have this vaccine we are not going to keep you employed, you are no longer of value, it is a bit of a kick in the teeth.’ Other unvaccinated health staff, including nurses and doctors have also told MailOnline they will also quit the health service rather than be forced to get the jab. ‘

An unvaccinated trainee GP has also said she would rather lose her job than get the Covid vaccine.

Dr West told the BBC: ‘I have not had the jab.

‘I have had Covid so I know that I’ve got excellent immunity from having recently had Covid. I am also happy to be regularly tested if I am going to see patients.

‘It’s just at the end of the day it’s unethical to force anyone to have a medical procedure.

‘If they’re decided for various reasons to not have this medical procedure, it should not be up to the Government to force me to or to say I’m going to lose my job.’

The move brings the NHS into line with care homes, where employees have until Thursday to get two doses of the Covid vaccine or be made redundant.     

England currently stands alone on its compulsory Covid vaccine policy with Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland having no plans to force their NHS staff to get the jab.