FRONTLINE NHS England staff will have to be fully vaccinated 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 told the BBC.

About 110,000 of more than 1.4 million healthcare workers in NHS England have not yet had a first Covid jab.

Thursday is the deadline for care home workers in England to get vaccinated.

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.

The BBC understands that the flu vaccine will not be made mandatory and there will be exemptions for the Covid vaccine requirement for medical reasons.

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.

He told the BBC that 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.

More below.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-59215282