Covid-19 jabs: 3,000 care home staff not vaccinated across Black Country and Staffordshire

Care home staff could soon be required by law to receive a Covid-19 vaccination under plans put forward by the Government – as figures reveal more than 3,000 workers across the region have not had a first dose.

A five-week consultation on mandatory jabs has been launched following concerns about whether enough carers have been vaccinated to stop the virus spreading to residents.

Across the region, 14,869 out of 18,264 eligible staff, including agency workers, at older adult care homes had received a first dose by April 11, according to latest NHS figures – meaning 18 per cent have not had a jab.

In Wolverhampton, 21 per cent of staff have not had the jab, while in Dudley the figure is 23 per cent, in Sandwell it is 24 per cent, Walsall it is 21 per cent and in Staffordshire the figure is 15 per cent.

Dr Paddy Hannigan, clinical lead for the vaccine programme in Staffordshire, said: “Care homes look after some of the most vulnerable people in our society and we want to see all staff vaccinated against Covid to protect residents, the staff, and everyone else they come into contact with.

“We are working hard to identify all causes of vaccine hesitancy so we can overcome them and reassure people that the available vaccines are both safe and effective. There are virtually no circumstances in which the risks of being vaccinated are greater than the risk contracting Covid.”

Sally Roberts, chief nursing officer, Black Country and West Birmingham CCG and senior responsible offer for the local vaccination programme said: “We are pleased everyone aged 45 and over has been invited to get their Covid-19 vaccine.

“We want to ensure everyone in an eligible group has had the chance to get protected, especially those who are clinically vulnerable and most at risk of serious illness.

“We continue to see that some people are not taking up the offer of a vaccine, but no one will be left behind, the vaccine is safe and effective and people should go and get it when asked to do so.

“If you have already been offered a jab but have not taken it up it is not too late. I would urge anyone with underlying health conditions, carers, health and social care and care home staff who have not yet been vaccinated against Covid-19 to please come forward and we will get you booked in.”

Across the Midlands, 22 per cent of eligible care home workers had not been vaccinated by April 11, while across England that figure stood at 21 per cent.

The Government’s plan would see older adult care home operators only able to use staff who have received a Covid-19 vaccination.

Workers with evidence of a medical exemption to the jab will still be allowed to work.

But the move has provoked criticism from trade union Unison which said mandatory vaccinations could “backfire” and lead to a staffing shortage.

General secretary Christina McAnea said: “Too heavy-handed an approach could backfire badly. Some staff may simply up and go, leaving a poorly paid sector already struggling with thousands and thousands of vacancies in a terrible state.

“That could damage the quality of care for the elderly and vulnerable, and no one wants that.”

Health secretary Matt Hancock said: "Older people living in care homes are most at risk of suffering serious consequences of Covid-19 and we have seen the grave effects the virus has had on this group.

"Making vaccines a condition of deployment is something many care homes have called for, to help them provide greater protection for staff and residents in older people’s care homes and so save lives."

Cultural reasons as well as concerns over the AstraZeneca vaccine and anti-vax campaigns have led to some care home workers not taking up the vaccine, the National Care Association, which represents care providers, has said.