Thank you for contacting me about vaccination as a condition of deployment for health and social care workers.
Nowhere is vaccination more important than in our health and social care system. It has always been the expectation that everyone gets the Covid-19 vaccine, especially those working in health and care settings who have a professional duty to do so.
When vaccination as a condition of deployment in health and care settings was first consulted on, evidence showed that vaccine effectiveness against infection from the Delta variant was between 65 and 80 per cent. It was clear that vaccination was the best way to keep vulnerable people safe. Given this, I believe it was the right policy at the right time, supported by clinical evidence.
However, given that Delta was replaced by Omicron, it is welcome that this policy was reviewed. With the population as a whole better protected against hospitalisation, and Omicron being intrinsically less severe, the Government concluded that it was no longer proportionate to require vaccination as a condition of deployment through statute.
Following a public consultation, the Government recognised calls for clarity and quick revocation of the regulations. New regulations came into force earlier this year which mean that vaccination is no longer a condition of deployment.
I note your concerns about unvaccinated care workers who were affected by these regulations. The regulations to make vaccination a condition of deployment in care homes were approved by Parliament on 22 July 2021 and came into force on 11 November 2021. Employers who ensured that vaccinated staff were deployed, unless exempt, were complying with the law at the time. The Government will therefore not offer compensation to unvaccinated staff who were dismissed or chose to leave the workforce.