People working or volunteering in care homes no longer required to have COVID-19 vaccine

People working or volunteering in care homes are no longer required to have received a COVID-19 vaccine to enter the premises.

Similarly, it is not a requirement for people to have received a COVID-19 vaccine in order to be deployed in NHS settings, or to deliver face to face Care Quality Commission-regulated activities in wider social care settings.

Following a public consultation, where 90% of responses supported the removal of the legal requirement for health and social care staff to be double-jabbed, the government has revoked the regulations.

When the original decision was taken to introduce COVID-19 vaccination as a condition of deployment, Delta was the dominant variant. This has since been replaced by Omicron which is less severe, with the percentage of those requiring emergency care or hospital admission approximately half that of the Delta variant.

While the vast majority of NHS, social care and other healthcare staff have been double-jabbed, the government is reminding those working in health and social care who remain unvaccinated that they still have a professional responsibility to get vaccinated against COVID-19.

The Care Quality Commission, the independent regulator of health and adult social care in England, said that any location that was found in breach of regulations during inspections carried out while the law was in force will have their inspection report reviewed in respect of these changes.

The CQC said: "We will assess whether the location’s rating has been affected by this removal and take necessary action to ensure our assessment of a service meets applicable regulations. We will be treating each location individually and assessing the particular circumstances."