UK Health Minister Sajiv Javid said that care workers should “get out and get another job” if they don’t want to receive vaccination.
“If you work in a care home you are working with some of the most vulnerable people in our country. If you cannot receive vaccination, then get out and go and get another job,” he added.
His statements came as the deadline for unvaccinated workers is too soon.
However, critics said that the decision could lead to damaging staff shortages in the UK.
Nadra Ahmed, the chair of the National Care Association, said the deadline needed to be more flexible.
“We are not anti-vaccine. What we are saying is we needed a bit more time,” she added.
Without an extension to the deadline, the consequences for care homes will be severe, she said.
“The situation is chronic now with staffing and that deadline will just add to it,” she said. We will have providers who are no longer able to staff their services safely and that can only mean they will have to be handing back contracts.
“They will have to be looking at whether they can minimise the number of beds that they use to keep themselves open, which will have a direct effect on the NHS’s ability to discharge people out of hospital and into care settings.”
Covid-19 Among Top 10 Causes of Death in UK
Covid-19 was the top ten biggest cause of death in UK, amid growing concerns of a new wave of the virus.
The virus was the ninth biggest cause of death in the country in July and the 26th in June.
However, Covid is still the leading cause of death over the course of the past 15 months in the UK.
Heart disease remains the biggest cause of death – while flu and pneumonia remain above Covid as a cause for a second month, although this is still half the five-year average.
