Vaccinations

Last week, the government announced some new changes regarding the status of ‘Mandatory Vaccinations’ in the health & social care sector. On 1st March, it was confirmed that vaccinations will no longer be a condition of deployment in all health and social care settings, effective from the 15th March.

Why has the government decided to backtrack with mandatory vaccinations?

• The Government said 90% of responses to a public consultation launched last month supported the removal of the legal requirement.
• There was some variation between different groups, with members of the public most likely to support revocation (96%) whereas 30% of managers and 22% of organisations providing health and care services opposed revocation
• It was evident from the limited number of responses from members of the public that their support for revoking vaccinations as a condition of deployment was based in wider vaccine hesitancy rather than concerns specific to the impacts of this particular policy
• Lower percentage of people requiring emergency care or hospital admission (approximately half that of the Delta variant)
• Members of the health and social care workforce were highly likely to support the revocation (84%) & the most supportive workforce groups were community care workers (90%)
• The majority of respondents thought there were no other steps that the government and health and social care sectors could take to increase vaccine uptake (70%)

Mr Javid, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care stated:

”It had been the right policy when the original decision was taken, but that it is no longer proportionate in the light of the most recent clinical evidence regarding the current Omicron variant of Covid-19, which is intrinsically less severe than Delta, and the high rate of vaccination across the population”.

“I have concluded that it is right and proportionate to proceed with revocation of Covid-19 vaccination as a condition of deployment in all health and social care settings.”

But he added that despite the change, he still considers it “a professional responsibility for health and care staff, and others who work in the health and social care sectors, to be vaccinated”.

The lifting of these regulations and the easing of restrictions as we learn to live with COVID-19 will help us to continue to chart a course back to normality.

Outbreak Funding

The Government’s ‘Contain Outbreak Management Fund’, which has provided £400m in funding to local authorities in England during the pandemic to help them reduce the spread of coronavirus and support local public health, is set to end next month and no guarantees have been made about its future. The fund has supported local authorities to stand up surge testing for new variants, work with employers and businesses to tackle outbreaks and ensured care homes could have access to testing, as well as other important steps to tackle COVID-19 in local communities.

In the wake of Government announcing its Living with COVID-19 strategy last week, which sets out plans to manage the pandemic moving forwards, councils have said that they will have to stand down important public health services if they do not receive any further local outbreak management funding.

Counsellor David Fothergill, Chairman of the LGA’s Community Wellbeing Board, said:

”As national systems are scaled back, it’s important that local public health teams still have the tools they need so they can respond to new variants and tackle outbreaks, particularly in higher risk settings. This won’t require the same level of funding as the Government has provided so far, but an extension of part of the COMF is vital so councils can continue this work and ensure staff with expertise in this area are retained.”

PPE

On the 1st March, the government announced that a new personal protective equipment (PPE) website has been launched, ensuring continuity of PPE distribution to frontline health and care staff, and other eligible users. This follows a previous announcement on the extension of free COVID-19 PPE until the end of March 2023.

What are the next steps?

• On the 1st March, the government announced that a new personal protective equipment (PPE) website has been launched, ensuring continuity of PPE distribution to frontline health and care staff, and other eligible users. This follows a previous announcement on the extension of free COVID-19 PPE until the end of March 2023.
• Through the previous PPE portal, more than 6 billion items have been distributed to over 54,000 health, care and public sector providers in England to date.
• There is an ongoing migration period from the previous system to the new platform, and from 4 April 2022, all customers will be automatically redirected to the new PPE portal from the previous site
• Last month, it was announced that NHS trusts, primary care and adult social care providers will continue to receive COVID-19 PPE free of charge until 31 March 2023 or until infection prevention and control (IPC) guidance is withdrawn or significantly amended

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