Mandatory vaccinations for NHS staff in England might soon be dropped because Omicron is less severe than previous Covid variants, according to a minister.
The government made it mandatory for frontline NHS workers to be fully vaccinated by 1 April back in the Autumn, meaning workers would have to get their first jab by this Thursday, 3 February.
If they chose not to get vaccinated they would be redeployed or dismissed from the NHS.
Approximately 77,000 workers (5% of the NHS workforce) in the health service are currently unvaccinated.
There are already close to 100,000 vacancies in the NHS and it is under immense pressure from the Covid backlog.
Chief secretary to the treasury Simon Clarke explained on Monday that the mandate could now be reversed.
Speaking to Sky News, he said: “We have been trying to strike, throughout this pandemic, the right balance between having the maximum impact in terms of measures that support public safety in the face of the virus, but also have the minimum impact in terms of our freedoms as a society.”
He said the Delta variant was “extremely dangerous” and took a “huge toll on our society”, meaning it was important to protect anyone going into hospital.
Clarke said that while Omicron is highly transmissible and dominant in the UK, the fundamental facts have changed because this variant is not as dangerous as Delta.
“Any decision taken today will reflect those policy changes,” Clarke explained.
However, he did clarify that this decision lies with the health secretary, adding: “The point is we need to wait until he and such colleagues have had a time to look at that.”
He said this doesn’t change that the most vulnerable people in society still need to be vaccinated.
Health secretary Sajid Javid has come under criticism from NHS workers for the mandate.
Last week, he maintained it is still the “duty” of health workers to get vaccinated but noted, “we do not have to accept that this virus has changed”.
The department of health and social care previously insisted that the policy was “the right thing to do to protect patients”, especially as vaccine are the most effective way to reduce hospitalisation.
Javid and his department are now reviewing the current ruling, but have not made any final decisions yet.
Many organisations within the NHS have urged against it.
The Royal College of Midwives warned that the policy might have a “catastrophic impact” on maternity services, and the Royal College of GPs and Royal College of Nursing also wanted it to be pushed back.
Scotland and Wales have not made vaccinations compulsory for either NHS workers or care home staff, while Northern Ireland is holding a public consultation on the matter.
Revoking the ruling for just NHS staff could cause consternation within the social care sector because the same mandate was introduced and reinforced last year.
The social care sector has now lost around 40,000 people since the mandate came into place in November.
