Covid vaccines will be made mandatory for all England's frontline NHS staff by Spring, the government is expected to announce today.
Ministers will confirm they are pressing ahead with plans to make the jab a "condition of deployment" in England's health service, according to the BBC.
Government sources refused to comment on speculation but did not deny the reports. One official told the Mirror they expected the move to be announced today.
Some 1.35million out of 1.454million NHS workers in England have had their first dose as of October 31, leaving just over 100,000 unvaccinated.
Not all 100,000 of those NHS staff work on the frontline.
Compulsory jabs for NHS staff have been urged by figures including ex-Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt, but others warn they could trigger a staffing crisis.
It comes as a deadline for care home workers to get their second dose as a condition of deployment looms this Thursday. Some staff can temporarily self-certify that they have an exemption, but care chiefs have pleaded for the deadline to be delayed with more than 100,000 vacancies already.
A consultation on making Covid and flu jabs compulsory for "other health and care settings" in England closed on October 22.
According to the BBC, Covid-19 jabs will be made compulsory but flu jabs will not.
Rachel Harrison of the GMB union warned: "Bulldozing this vaccine will exacerbate the already crushing staffing crisis we face across the NHS and ambulance services.
"Both are operating under extreme pressures, after a decade of austerity and cuts, with an exhausted and demoralised workforce who are fearful of what is to come as we head through winter.
"Staff are already leaving their employment and this will certainly force many more to go."
Chris Hopson of NHS Providers, which represents hospital chiefs, said he would help more staff get the jab but warned “patient safety” could be harmed if tens of thousands of NHS staff have to leave.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4, he urged ministers not to “scapegoat or denigrate” those without a vaccine and instead have “patient, supportive, encouraging” conversations.
“We need to win the argument rather than beat them around the head”, he said.
He added: “We have to make sure we get the tone of this announcement, if it is to come today, in a careful way.”
Today is the final day of the Commons before a short recess, meaning any statement to MPs about a change in vaccination rules would need to be made today.
Tory ex-Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has called for mandatory jabs for NHS staff and criticised ministers for not introducing them sooner, with fears of a winter wave.
He pointed to figures exposed by the Daily Telegraph which suggested 11,688 patients who went to hospital for other ailments may have caught Covid and died.
Health Committee chairman Mr Hunt said: "These numbers are truly shocking.
"Hospital infections have been the deadliest silent killer of the pandemic ... It surely strengthens the case for mandatory vaccination for front-line healthcare staff."
NHS England said the analysis was "flawed" because it contained "probable" cases, not all of which definitely caught Covid in hospital.
Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab refused to comment on reports of mandatory jabs for NHS frontline staff, calling it a “leaked report on Twitter”, though he insisted "we’ve been very mindful of encouraging greater takeup.”
Mr Raab told BBC Breakfast: "I don’t comment on leaked reports about what the government may or may not do. That’s just not a professional thing for me to do."
