As a result of the UK government’s vaccine mandate for all social care workers, 60,000 unvaccinated employees face losing their jobs this winter.
The news comes after Health Secretary Sajid Javid told them to get the Covid-19 vaccines or face getting sacked. The mandate requires care workers to be fully vaccinated against the coronavirus by November 11th.
However, due to the mandate, many care homes across the country could face closure due to losing so many members of staff. “The sector is in crisis, this could be the final straw for many. residents will have to find new ones, causing anxiety.
“It’s not too late for the government to delay the jabs rule,” said Unison general secretary Christina McAnea.
The Department of Health said in a statement: “Vaccines save lives and while staff and residents have been prioritised, it is our responsibility to protect vulnerable people.”
In an interview with BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Sajid Javid said: “If you work in a care home you are working with some of the most vulnerable people in our country, and if you cannot be bothered to go and get vaccinated then get out and go and get another job.
“If you want to look after them, if you want to cook for them, if you want to feed them, if you want to put them to bed, then you should get vaccinated. If you are not going to get vaccinated then why are you working in care?”
The chair of the National Care Association, Nadra Ahmed, has warned that they are not “anti-vaccine”, but that this will add to an already present staffing crisis.
“It seems completely perverse that care home workers who are unvaccinated will be able to work on November 10 but not on November 11,” Ahmed said.
The mandate has faced substantial backlash from NHS workers and healthcare providers alike, with many warning that the measures discriminate against medical freedom, removing any choice over whether people want to get jabbed or not.
