London, Thanasis Gavos
Vaccination against COVID-19 will be mandatory for workers in the front line of the NHS national health system in England from April 1, 2022, as confirmed by the Minister of Health Sajid Javid.
In an emergency statement to the House of Commons, Mr Javid said he had considered the views of all stakeholders during consultations on the issue, which began in September. “We need to avoid preventable harm and protect patients in the NHS, protect colleagues in the NHS and, of course, protect the NHS itself,” the minister said in announcing his decision.
He added that 90% of NHS staff have had at least two doses of the coronavirus vaccine, but there are still 103,000 unvaccinated doctors, nurses and administrators in the UK.
Since it is impossible to predict what percentage of them will eventually be vaccinated, Mr. Javid said that vaccination should be made mandatory.
Only those employees who do not come into physical contact with patients and those who have medical reasons for exclusion will be exempted from the obligation.
Instead, the Minister of Health decided not to force NHS staff to get the flu vaccine.
Mr. Javid noted that the government does not ignore concerns about the withdrawal of NHS personnel in a period of high pressure due to the mandatory vaccination. That is why, he said, the measure will not take effect immediately, but 12 weeks after the parliamentary approval requested by the government, “allowing the remaining colleagues to make the positive choice of protecting themselves and those around them, as well as time for planning to cover staff shortages “.
It is noted that the vaccination against Covid has already become mandatory for employees in nursing homes, with the deadline expiring the day after Thursday.
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