Politics

Health secretary Sajid Javid has announced a review will be launched over plans to make COVID vaccinations mandatory for NHS staff.

Health workers in England are meant to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by April, but Mr Javid has been under growing pressure to get rid of the rule.

The health secretary told MPs it is no longer proportionate to require NHS staff and health care workers to be vaccinated as a condition of deployment through statute.

He defended the initial policy – insisting the government “makes no apology for it”.

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Mr Javid told MPs there was a need to consider the impact on the workforce in NHS and social care settings, “especially at a time where we already have a shortage of workers and near full employment across the economy”.

He added: “In December I argued, and this House overwhelmingly agreed, that the weight of clinical evidence in favour of vaccination as a condition of deployment outweighed the risks to the workforce.

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“It was the right policy at the time, supported by the clinical evidence, and the government makes no apology for it. It has also proven to be the right policy in retrospect, given the severity of Delta.”

However, former health secretary, Jeremy Hunt, voiced his concerns about Mr Javid’s U-turn.

Mr Hunt, who is health and social care select committee chairman, told the Commons: “Frontline workers have done an extraordinary job in this pandemic but I have yet to meet a single one who believes that anyone who comes in contact with patients has a right to put them to increased risk by not having a vaccine, unless there is a medial exemption.

“My concern is that having marched the NHS to the top of the hill, having actually won an very important patient safety argument, we are now doing a U-turn.”

But Mr Javid said it was right to review the policy after Omicron replaced Delta as the dominant COVID strain.

Announcing a consultation, he told the House of Commons: “Subject to the responses and the will of this house, the government will revoke the regulations.

“I have always been clear that our rules must remain proportionate and balanced, and of course, should we see another dramatic change in the virus, it would be only responsible to review this policy again.”

NHS doctor Steve James – who told Mr Javid he would not have the vaccine – told Sky News today that he had not changed his mind.

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NHS doctor Steve James said he ‘won’t be coerced’ into jab

The consultant anaesthetist believes the “science isn’t strong enough” to support mandatory vaccines for NHS workers.

Boris Johnson, speaking during a visit to the Port of Tilbury, in Essex this morning, said he believes it is “absolutely clear” that NHS staff should get vaccinated.

The PM said: “My view on NHS workers, everybody involved in looking after vulnerable people, all healthcare professionals should get a vaccine. That’s absolutely clear.”

There were concerns that the sector could be left with a massive staffing crisis due to the number of workers choosing not to be vaccinated.

Both the Royal College of GPs and the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) had urged for the deadline to be postponed and the British Medical Association called for an “urgent impact assessment” on how the policy would affect staffing numbers.

Analysis by Sky News health correspondent, Ashish Joshi

The health secretary had little choice. The threat of losing 77,000 unvaccinated NHS staff was too great. It is a hit the health service simply cannot afford to take.

Sajid Javid says both decisions: to impose the vaccine mandate and his subsequent U-Turn have been driven by data.

When the decision was made there was a very real danger to the NHS from soaring COVID infections. The vaccine protected staff and patients. He says we are now in a different position. Infections are falling and the Omicron variant has proved to be not as dangerous as the Delta version.

But the U-Turn will put many NHS Trusts in a very difficult position. A CEO I spoke to said about 90% of trust executives did not want the government to backtrack. He told me we were too far down the path and any reversal would impact the NHS’s credibility for future policies.

And then there is the huge issue of staff who have only had their vaccines because of the threat of losing their jobs. He said he expected “massive kick back”.

We saw the fallout after the Dr Steve James challenged Sajid Javed on camera. Fellow medics quickly took to social media to decry Dr James and his stance.

Another major issue is the 40,000 care home staff who forced to leave their jobs. What happens to them now?

A senior Care Home executive described the Government’s backtracking as a “joke”.

The vaccine mandate is a highly contentious issue that has divided colleagues. The lines have been drawn and the healing will take some time.

This article was originally published by Sky.com. Read the original article here.