The Health Secretary, Rt Hon Matt Hancock MP, has, today (14 April), launched a five-week consultation on requiring care home providers, which care for older adults, to only deploy workers who have received their COVID-19 vaccination.
This will not include those who can provide evidence of a medical exemption from a COVID-19 vaccination.
Experts on the social care working group of SAGE advise that 80% of staff and 90% of residents need to be vaccinated to provide a minimum level of protection against outbreaks of COVID-19. Only 53% of older adult homes in England are currently meeting this threshold.
The consultation will help inform decision-making around how the change could be implemented and whether respondents think it will be beneficial. Staff, providers, residents and their families are being urged to take part to have their views heard with a final decision expected this summer.
Consultation:
https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/making-vaccination-a-condition-of-deployment-in-older-adult-care-homes
Written Ministerial Statement:
https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-statements/detail/2021-04-14/hcws917