THE vast majority of care home workers in Warrington have been vaccinated against coronavirus.

This is according to the latest figures available from Public Health England, and comes as the Government is expected to announce that jabs for care home workers will become mandatory.

Ministers are set to announce the move in the coming days after a consultation was carried out into using staff vaccination in England to protect the most vulnerable from Covid-19.

Consultation will also begin on whether other health and care workers should also have the jabs.

It comes after concerns that some parts of the country, such as London, have particularly low uptake of vaccines for care home staff.

Warrington Guardian:

Overall, NHS England figures to June 6 show that 84 per cent of staff in older adult care homes in England have had one dose of vaccine, and almost 69 per cent have had both jabs.

This is in line with data for Warrington, where 85.5 per cent of care home workers have received at least one dose of a vaccine.

Data up to June 6, which is the latest available, shows that 1,845 out of 2,158 care home workers in the town have been vaccinated.

Staff are eligible to receive the vaccine if they have not had Covid-19 in the previous 28 days, and the term ‘staff’ refers to those directly employed by the care home provider plus agency workers.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock is known to be in favour of the move to make jabs for care home workers mandatory, while England’s chief medical officer, Professor Chris Whitty, has said doctors and care workers have a ‘professional responsibility’ to protect their patients.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said: “Vaccines are our way out of this pandemic and have already saved thousands of lives – with millions of health and care staff vaccinated.

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“Our priority is to make sure people in care homes are protected, and we launched the consultation to get views on whether and how the Government might take forward a new requirement for adult care home providers, looking after older people, to only deploy staff who have had a Covid-19 vaccination or have an appropriate exemption.”

The decision is controversial, with GMB union saying that more than a third of carers would consider leaving their jobs if vaccinations become compulsory.

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 strong-arm care workers into taking the vaccine without taking seriously the massive blocks these workers still face in getting jabbed.”