National consultation open on revoking the requirement for a COVID-19 vaccine as a condition of deployment

This consultation is CLOSED

Close date: 16th February 2022

Overview

National consultation open on revoking the requirement for a COVID-19 vaccine as a condition of deployment

The national consultation is now open to seeking views on revoking provisions that require COVID-19 vaccination as a condition of deployment in health and social care settings.

This consultation closes at 11:45 pm on 16 February 2022.

Given the changes in clinical evidence, the government is revisiting the balance of risks and benefits that guided its original decisions to make coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccination a condition of deployment.

When vaccination as a condition of deployment was first introduced, Delta was the dominant variant.

Omicron has now replaced Delta as the dominant variant, representing up to 99% of cases across some regions.

While Omicron still presents a threat to public health, especially for those that are unvaccinated, relative to Delta, it is intrinsically less severe.

This has resulted in the risk of presentation to emergency care or hospital admission with Omicron being approximately half of that for Delta. When coupled with the high vaccination rate in the population, this has meant the impact of the circulation of Omicron has been less than initially feared.

The government has listened to the best and latest clinical and scientific advice and considered how we can achieve public health and safety with the minimum number of restrictions or requirements on people’s lives.

While vaccination remains our very best line of defence against COVID-19, and all people working in health and social care settings have a professional duty to be vaccinated, the view of this government is that it is no longer proportionate to require vaccination as a condition of deployment through statute in health, care homes or other social care settings.

The consultation seeks views on the intention to revoke the policy. If you would like to contribute to the consultation please do so directly using the links above.

Link to national consultation

Consultation location: Trustwide

Page last updated on:

View all engagements and consultations