A BRADFORD care homes boss has said the "damage has already been done" after the Government announced it is planning to scrap Covid vaccination requirements for health and social care workers in England following a consultation.

Health Secretary Sajid Javid told the House of Commons he believes it is “no longer proportionate” to require vaccination as a condition of deployment under law.

He said it was right to review the policy, given the Delta variant, dominant at the time the policy was announced, has now been replaced by the less severe Omicron.

This, combined with greater population protection due to the vaccines, means it is “not only right but responsible to revisit the balance of risks and opportunities that guided our original decision last year”, he said.

Announcing a consultation, he told the House of Commons: “Subject to the responses and the will of this house, the Government will revoke the regulations."

“I have always been clear our rules must remain proportionate and balanced, and should we see another dramatic change in the virus, it would be only responsible to review this policy again.”

Konrad Czajka, chair of the Bradford Care Association said: "The policy of compulsory vaccinations was imposed on care home providers and this lead to staff leaving the sector. This exacerbated the pre-existing recruitment and retention crisis.

"So for us in the care home sector the damage has already been done and we have lost staff who may not now return to care work.

"We will however continue to encourage our staff to be vaccinated, our priority is the safety and well being of our residents."

Ministers have been facing pressure to put back the requirement for staff in England to be double jabbed by April amid fears it will lead to a major staffing crisis.

Figures published last week by NHS England show that 127,515 NHS and domiciliary care staff working in registered settings had not had a first dose of a Covid-19 vaccine as of January 23 – ahead of the February 3 deadline for first doses.

The requirement for care home staff to have two doses came into force last November, with one charity accusing the Government of using the sector as “the trial run for the NHS”.

Care home employers who had already dismissed employees since November 11 were complying with the law at the time, and the law will remain in place pending consultation and Parliamentary process.