HUNDREDS of care home workers in the North East are yet to receive a Covid vaccination – as fears grow of a national staffing shortage with the deadline looming for all staff to get vaccinated.
Under a decision passed by MPs in July, all eligible staff must be double-jabbed by November 11 in an older adult care home in a bid to protect residents.
NHS figures show in County Durham, 235 out of 5,266 eligible staff (four per cent), including agency workers, at older adult care homes had not received a first dose by August 22.
That proportion has fallen from mid-June, shortly after the legislation for mandatory vaccinations was announced, when 11 per cent were unvaccinated.
READ MORE: Care home staff risk losing job without Covid vaccination
In Darlington, 73 out of 1,253 eligible staff (six per cent), had not received a first dose in the same time period compared to eight per cent in mid-June.
And in North Yorkshire, 416 out of 6,139 eligible staff (seven per cent), had not received a dose, a decrease from 12 per cent in June.
But it is in Middlesbrough where the highest number of staff are yet to receive a vaccination. Figures show 124 out of 1,567 eligible staff (eight per cent) had not been vaccinated.
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) estimates around seven per cent of the care industry workforce – around 40,000 workers – risk being lost as a result of making vaccination a condition of employment in care homes.
A survey of 1,000 care managers by The Institute of Health and Social Care Management found more than half feared they would have to dismiss staff due to the requirement – a quarter expected to lose between 10 per cent and 20 per cent of staff.
Nadra Ahmed, chief executive of the National Care Association, said she was “extremely concerned” over the impact of unvaccinated workers being forced out of care homes, come the November deadline.
She said the industry was already struggling to fill 115,000 vacancies.
Ms Ahmed said: “We are extremely concerned at the impact of this, which we believe was never properly thought through – we have a huge number of vacancies already and because of this legislation more people have left or are leaving.
“Some members of staff are not taking the vaccine for a number of reasons, personal and cultural, and their loss will be badly felt.
“The care sector has been discriminated against through this legislation, which only adds to the problems we already have of fatigue and vacancies.”
The legislation was put forward by the Government following evidence of vaccine hesitancy among care staff in some areas of England.
In County Durham, 101 (97 per cent) out of 104 care homes were achieving that target by August 22.
All 24 care homes in Darlington were achieving the target, 28 out of 30 were in Middlesbrough, and 133 (91 per cent) out of 146 did in North Yorkshire.
A DHSC spokesperson said: “While staff and residents in care homes have been prioritised and the majority are now vaccinated, it is our responsibility to do everything we can to reduce the risk for vulnerable people.
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