Ministers to review sacking unvaxxed NHS staff in England

Ministers are reviewing mandatory vaccination for NHS staff in England as health workers demonstrated against the order yesterday.

Any unvaccinated health service staff face dismissal from April with up to 75,000 frontline staff potentially facing the sack.

Memos to managers last week said there would be no pay-offs for staff told to leave. However, as protesters marched against the plans in London and other English cities yesterday, ministers were said to be considering pausing the order as concern mounted.

Yesterday, Martin Marshall, chairman of the Royal College of GPs, said it was “not the right way forward”. If unvaccinated staff were taken out of frontline roles by April 1 there would be “massive consequences” for the NHS, he told BBC Radio 4.

Meanwhile some Covid protection measures will be lifted tomorrow in Scotland, with nightclubs reopening, large indoor events resuming and social distancing rules dropped.

Guidance advising adults against meeting up with more than three households at a time will also be scrapped, along with curbs on indoor contact sports.

People are still being asked to take lateral flow tests before meeting with others and to work from home if they can. Face coverings remain a legal requirement in indoor settings such as shops, hospitality venues and public transport.

It’s thought the Omicron wave peaked in the first week of January as reported cases and hospital admissions continue to fall.

There were just under 7,000 more cases recorded yesterday and there were 1,458 people in hospital with recently confirmed Covid down 53 on the day before, with 16 in intensive care.

However, 30 more deaths within 28 days of a positive test were recorded yesterday, meaning the death toll under that measurement has risen to 10,195.