Vaccination as a Condition of Deployment (VCOD) in England – UNISON Branch advice

Background In late 2021, new regulations were agreed by parliament making it unlawful for an employer delivering Care Quality Commission (CQC) regulated activities, to deploy an unvaccinated worker in a face-to-face role from 1st April 2022. There are some limited medical exemptions within the regulations. Vaccinated is defined as a “complete course of a Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) approved COVID-19 vaccine”. This does not currently include the booster jab. The 3rd of February 2022 is the last date for workers to get their 1st dose to be fully vaccinated in time for when the regulations take force from 1st April 2022. UNISON supports vaccination in health and social care. The vaccine is safe, and we encourage all members who do not have a medical exemption to get their jab. During the consultation UNISON was very clear that we do not agree with mandating vaccinations – which should always be voluntary. UNISON remains extremely concerned about the impact that the VCOD policy will have on numbers of staff leaving the NHS. We have raised, and continue to raise, these concerns with policy makers and politicians.   Current situation UNISON branches are being approached by NHS staff who are trying to understand the regulations and to get advice on their decision. UNISON should not advise any member to be vaccinated against their will. UNISON should not advise members to refuse a vaccination. This is an individual decision for the staff memb...
Source: UNISON Health care news - Category: UK Health Authors: Tags: Article Source Type: news