Frontline NHS staff in England will have to be fully jabbed against Covid the government is expected to announce later.
A deadline will be set for next spring to give unvaccinated staff time to get both doses, Whitehall sources have told the BBC.
Chris Hopson, head of NHS Providers said between 80,000 and 100,000 NHS workers in England were unvaccinated.
This coming Thursday is the deadline for care home workers in England to get their jabs.
The government’s decision follows a consultation which began in September and considered whether both the Covid and flu jabs should be compulsory for frontline NHS and care workers.
It is understood that the flu jab will not be made mandatory and there will be exemptions for the Covid jab requirement for medical reasons.
Each of the four regions in the UK make their own decision on the matter; Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have not made any proposals to make Covid jabs compulsory for NHS workers or care home staff yet.
Last month, Health Secretary Sajid Javid said he was leaning towards compulsory vaccination for NHS staff in England, saying it was the ‘right thing to do to protect staff and patients.’
Javid said he did not want the NHS to lose any staff, but said the experience in the social care sector was that the numbers taking up the vaccine “absolutely surged” after it was made compulsory.
Chris Hopson, chief executive of NHS Providers which represents England’s NHS trusts, urged the government to think carefully about the tone of any announcement it makes, saying unvaccinated staff should not be scapegoated or denigrated.
“We understand why people are vaccine-hesitant. We need to win the argument with them rather than beat them around the head,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
Editor-in-Chief | Carl D. Pearson has been involved in British politics and media from an early age, with the key knowledge of what it takes to run a news organisation for the 21st century. Mr Pearson, as Editor-in-chief, is responsible for supervising the daily tasks of publishing media and content to UNN’s website and various platforms.
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