health care worker refuse vaccine
More than a third of care staff will consider quitting if they are forced to have a compulsory coronavirus vaccine, a union has warned.

GMB said that the move, which is being considered by the Government, was an attempt to "strongarm" care workers into taking the jab.

Under the plans, care home staff in England who work with older people would be required to get the jab or risk losing their jobs. They will reportedly have 16 weeks to get vaccinated.

One in six care workers - around 52,000 - have not had the vaccine despite being eligible.

GMB national officer Rachel Harrison said:
"Carers have been at the forefront of this pandemic, risking their lives to keep our loved ones safe, often enduring almost Victorian working standards in the process.

"The Government could do a lot to help them: address their pay, terms and conditions, increasing the rate of and access to contractual sick pay, banning zero hours, and ensuring more mobile NHS vaccination teams so those working night shifts can get the jab." .

"Instead, ministers are ploughing ahead with plans to strongarm care workers into taking the vaccine without taking seriously the massive blocks these workers still face in getting jabbed."
Unison general secretary Christina McAnea said that "encouragement achieves better results with the nervous than threats or coercion".

"The Government's sledgehammer approach now runs the risk that some care staff may simply walk away from an already understaffed, undervalued and underpaid sector," she said.

On Tuesday morning, Cabinet minister Liz Truss insisted that the Government had not yet committed to the plans, saying that officials were "currently consulting on this issue" but that a decision would be "very imminent". The Government have refused to rule out the move.

However, Ms Truss said it was "incredibly important" for care home staff to be vaccinated.

"We have got a hugely vulnerable population in our care homes and making sure that staff are vaccinated is a priority," she told Sky News.

The Government is also planning a consultation on whether Covid jabs should be made compulsory for all NHS staff, alongside those in social care. According to official data, 151,000 NHS workers - just over one in 10 - have not have the vaccine.

Questioned on this, Ms Truss said: "I think everybody who has the opportunity to have a vaccine should have that vaccine."

According to The Times, the plans for compulsory jabs for NHS and care staff have the personal support of Boris Johnson.

Alongside unions, care bosses also criticised the move, saying care staff had been "singled out".

Nadra Ahmed, Chair of the National Care Association, urged the Government to rethink plans.

"We absolutely agree, we would like to see everybody vaccinated to keep our workforce safe, that includes any visitors coming into our services, any professionals coming into our services, we'd like to see everybody vaccinated. But we can't compel them to do it," Ms Ahmed told BBC Breakfast on Monday.

"It will be really worrying that they have been singled out, care homes have been singled out, and our staff have been singled out for this as a compulsory move. I think it should be rethought," she added.

Mike Padgham, chairman of the Independent Care Group (ICG), which represents care homes in Yorkshire, said he feared the move would put people off becoming care workers.

Mr Padgham said that it would be better to educate and persuade people to take the vaccine of their own accord, rather than to threaten them with job losses.

"It's not unexpected, I'm disappointed because I think persuasion is the way forward still because those taking the vaccination has gone up but I also say that I do believe people should be vaccinated, every member of staff should take up the vaccine," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme. "But I just think persuasion rather than coercion or compulsion is the way we have to deal with it."

"The Government could make more effort to encourage workers to take up the vaccine, I think from a social media campaign and actually giving us more time because we can achieve it.

"What I'm worried about is the recruitment crisis already in social care, is that we're frightened that this is going to put more people off coming into social care and that's going to be difficult."

"We're already short of staff," he added.

There is some precedent for mandatory vaccinations, with surgeons required to get the Hepatitis B jab to practise, but care home staff would be the first required to get a Covid jab.

Some care providers have already implemented a policy of mandatory vaccines. In February, Barchester Care Group, which has more than 17,000 staff, instructed its employees to get the jab or face losing their job.

In total, 80 staff refused to have the vaccine and have since left their posts.

Speaking to BBC Breakfast, the firm's CEO, Dr Pete Calveley, said: "We've had to make a choice between the rights of our residents to remain safe and as safe as possible - which is a legal obligation we have as a provider - and the individual's right to choose not to have the vaccine, and of course that is a balance and we've taken advice on it and thought long and hard.

"In the end there was an overarching responsibility for us as a provider for the safety for our residents."

Update: Health Secretary Matt Hancock has confirmed that plans to force care home staff to get vaccinated against Covid will go ahead.