Relief and anger over Government's U-turn on unvaccinated NHS staff as Blackpool support worker hits out

Health Secretary Sajid Javid has said that the Government would not pursue the controversial policy and that a consultation was being launched.

Mr Javid made his announcement just days ahead of February 3, the deadline by which completely unvaccinated staff needed to have their first Covid vaccination in order to meet the April deadline.

The developments have brought relief to employees who did not want the jab but were fearful of losing their jobs.

But despite the relief there is also anger that NHS staff, who were so richly praised by the Government amidst the Covid crisis last year, have been put through such worries in the first place.

Emilia Jochymek, 38, from Blackpool, who is a mental health support worker, has been outspoken about mandatory vaccinations and said: "I am relieved myself because I did not want to lose my job.

"But I personally know people working in the NHS who were so scared about getting sacked that they got the jab at the last minute, even though they didn't want it.

"Then just a few days later the Government changes its mind, so they didn't need to have it after all.

"They feel cheated by this Government, they feel they have been lied to.

"This is the way this Government treats its NHS workers, who have put their lives on the line during Covid.

"What they have done to these workers is like psychological torture, threatening them and bullying them."

Emilia, who has worked for the NHS for six-and-a-half years, was opposed to having the vaccine herself because she believed it had not been sufficiently tested and was stil in a relatively experimental phase.

Hundreds of workers at Blackpool Teaching Hospitals Trust are still not vaccinated against Covid-19, figures suggest.

Across England, millions of people have been triple jabbed in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic – but tens of thousands of NHS staff are yet to have a first dose

NHS England data shows 95% of the 9,302 health care workers at Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust had received at least one vaccination by the end of December, meaning 490 were unvaccinated at that point.

The figures also show 8,527 workers had received two jabs – 92% of staff – and 6,527 had received a booster dose (70%).

There have been widespread protests and calls to delay the policy and the Government was warned that the NHS service would face a huge staffing crisis if it went ahead with its policy.

But a Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said just before Mr Javid's statement: “Health and social care workers look after the most vulnerable people in society, who could face serious health consequences if exposed to the virus.

“Ensuring staff are vaccinated is the right thing to do to protect patients and those in care.

“The vast majority of NHS staff have had the vaccine which is our best defence against Covid-19.”

The data is limited to health care workers who appear in the NHS electronic staff record who could be matched to the National Immunisation Management System – meaning some bank staff could be included in the figures.

Fleetwood’s Labour MP Cat Smith says that people should have free choice. She said: “I don’t like the idea of mandatory vaccinations and I voted against them in the care home sector.

“I have similar serious concerns about plans to make vaccines mandatory for NHS staff.

“Threatening people with losing their jobs is not the way to win an argument. I’m glad we’ve persuaded the government to think again and I hope the idea is quickly dropped.”