British health minister Matt Hancock has said it will be mandatory for care home workers in England to have coronavirus vaccinations and the government is considering whether the policy should be extended to healthcare workers too.
Under the new rules, from October this year anyone working in a care home where residents need nursing or personal care will need to have had two doses of a Covid vaccine. This will apply to all workers employed by the care home, agency workers, volunteers, and anyone coming into the care home to do work, unless they are medically exempt.
“We have decided to take this proposal forward to protect residents. The vast majority of staff in care homes are vaccinated, but not all,” Hancock told parliament, adding a similar move would be considered for the National Health Service (NHS).
“We will be taking forward the measures to ensure the mandation, as a condition of deployment, for staff in care homes, and we will consult on the same approach in the NHS in order to save lives and protect patients from disease.”
For other employers the key legal problems with mandating the vaccine are the risks associated with dismissing employees who refuse and have over two years’ service, and the potential for discrimination claims from employees with protected characteristics.
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