SHROPSHIRE’S largest care home operators says it supports the need for staff to be vaccinated, as a new law comes into force.
From Thursday, anyone working or volunteering in a care home in England will need to be fully vaccinated against the coronavirus.
There have been some fears that this could lead to staff shortages.
Coverage Care, which runs New Fairholme in Oswestry and Greenfields in Whitchurch, says supporting residents is a top priority.
Debbie Price, chief executive of Coverage Care Services, said: “Losing valuable staff at a time when the care sector has never been under more pressure regarding the workforce is far from ideal.
“However we lived through the worst of the pandemic’s effects on care homes and because of that we fully support the need to be double vaccinated to work with our residents and other staff.
“With a heavy heart we would say this has to be the priority.”
Coverage Care Services operates 12 care homes across Shropshire and employs around 1,000 members of staff but will be losing just four members of staff as a result of the new rules around mandatory vaccinations.
Her comments come following government estimates that more than 120,000 frontline health and social care staff in England could lose their jobs next spring after refusing to have Covid-19 vaccinations.
Health Secretary Sajid Javid announced that frontline NHS workers and social care staff in England will need to be jabbed to continue in their jobs from April 1 next year, unless they are exempt.
But the government has conceded that the policy could have a “significant impact” on the health and care workforce, with estimates suggesting that as many as 123,000 could leave their jobs as a result.
Care home workers in England have already been told they must be fully vaccinated by the deadline of this Thursday.
Mr Javid told MPs the decision to make Covid-19 vaccinations compulsory for NHS staff does not mean the Government does not recognise concerns about “workforce pressures” this winter.
He added: “Allow me to be clear that no-one in the NHS or care that is currently unvaccinated should be scapegoated, singled out or shamed.
“That would be totally unacceptable. This is about supporting them to make a positive choice to protect vulnerable people, to protect their colleagues.
“And of course to protect themselves.”
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