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Regulations requiring COVID-19 vaccination to work in
Care Quality Commission registered care homes to be lifted from
15 March
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Legal requirement for health and social care staff to
be double jabbed from 1 April to be
removed
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Health and Social Care Secretary reminds the minority
of unvaccinated health and care workers of their professional
responsibility to be vaccinated
Regulations making COVID-19 vaccination a condition of deployment
in health and social care will be revoked on Tuesday 15 March,
the Health and Social Care Secretary has confirmed today (Tuesday
1 March).
Following a public consultation, where 90% of responses supported
the removal of the legal requirement for health and social care
staff to be double jabbed, the government is revoking the
regulations.
In January, the government confirmed its intention to revoke
vaccination as a condition of deployment, subject to
consultation.
When the original decision was taken to introduce COVID-19
vaccination as a condition of deployment, Delta was the dominant
variant. This has since been replaced by Omicron which is less
severe, with the percentage of those requiring emergency care or
hospital admission approximately half that of the Delta variant.
Thanks to our hugely successful vaccination programme, the
immunity built up in the population and our new antiviral and
therapeutics tools, we are now in the strong position of learning
to live with COVID-19. The latest data from the UK Health
Security Agency (UKHSA) shows that five to nine weeks after
getting a booster, you are at least 85% less likely to end up in
hospital than if you are unvaccinated.
With the population better protected and lower levels of
hospitalisations and mortality, it was right to revisit the
balance of risks and benefits that had guided the government's
original decisions to introduce vaccination as a condition of
deployment in health and social care. The number of restrictions,
rules and regulations are now being reduced - including this
requirement.
While the vast majority of NHS, social care and other healthcare
staff have been double jabbed, the government is clear those
working in health and social care who remain unvaccinated still
have a professional responsibility to get vaccinated against
COVID-19 and Get Boosted Now.
The government’s priority is to ensure the most vulnerable to
COVID-19 remain protected through vaccinations, antivirals and
therapeutics.
The government is continuing to work closely with Royal Colleges
and professional regulators to strengthen guidance and consult on
updating the Code of Practice on the prevention and control of
infections in relation to COVID-19 requirements for CQC
registered providers of health and social care in England.
The lifting of these regulations and the easing of restrictions
as we learn to live with COVID-19 will help us to continue to
chart a course back to normality.
NOTES TO EDITORS
