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Daily Record
Politics
Peter Davidson

Covid vaccine won't be made compulsory for care home staff in Scotland

Care home staff in Scotland will not be forced to get the coronavirus vaccine, the Scottish Government has said.

It comes as the UK Government is set to announce that workers in England may be required to get jabbed.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock is known to be in favour of the move, while England's chief medical officer, Professor Chris Whitty, has said doctors and care workers have a "professional responsibility" to protect their patients.

Ministers will announce the move in the coming days after a consultation was carried out into using staff vaccination in England to protect the most vulnerable from Covid-19.

Consultation will also begin on whether other health and care workers should also have the jabs.

It comes after concerns that some parts of the country, such as London, have particularly low uptake of vaccines for care home staff.

The uptake of the covid jab amongst care home staff in Scotland has been high since the programme was rolled out.

According to the latest Public Health Scotland data a total of 50,380 care home staff were fully vaccinated.

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: "Vaccination remains critical in the fight against COVID-19 and health and social care workers have been among those prioritised for the vaccine, with the overwhelming majority taking it up.

"The response from care home staff in Scotland to the call to take up their vaccinations has been fantastic. Uptake has been exceptionally high, and the total number of staff who have had both doses of the vaccine actually exceeds the originally projected cohort.

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"We’ve worked with the care home sector and staff to engage with them and discuss any concerns they had. The result of listening and engaging positively with the workforce has been the exceptionally high levels of care home staff vaccination in Scotland.

"We currently have no plans to make vaccinations mandatory for health and social care staff as it’s clear that these caring staff in Scotland are overwhelmingly making the choice to be vaccinated to protect themselves and their residents.

"We will continue to keep this position under review."

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