Javid ‘leaning towards’ mandatory Covid jabs for NHS staff

The health secretary Sajid Javid, has revealed that he is “leaning towards” mandatory jabs for NHS staff in England.

A final decision has not been made yet. If coronavirus vaccinations were made compulsory for NHS workers in England this would bring them in line with care home workers.

Speaking to Sky News Javid said: “There are 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,”

“I’m leaning towards doing it [compulsory vaccinations].”

Javid also spoke to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. He commented: “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,”

“I don’t want to put a timeframe on it but it wouldn’t be months and months.”

The possibility of compulsory coronavirus jabs for NHS workers has received a mixed reception. Dr Layla McCay is the director of policy at the NHS Confederation.

Speaking to The Radio Times she explained: “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 real balance.”

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