18,000 NHS London staff set to keep jobs in mandatory jabs U-turn

THOUSANDS of unvaccinated London NHS workers were set to keep their jobs as the Government was today expected to abandon mandatory jabs for hospital staff.

- Ross Lydall

More than 18,000 of the capital's healthcare workers are not vaccinated, according to the latest NHS England statistics, and health chiefs feared having to issue redundancy notices this week.

But ministers say the need for all staff who come into contact with patients to be double-jabbed is now open to question” because Omicron is less severe than Delta, which was the dominant Covid variant when the policy was announced last autumn.

Simon Clarke, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: “That opens the question... whether to proceed with this policy.” Speaking earlier on Sky News, Mr Clarke said: “This is a policy we have always kept under review.