Care home workers who are pregnant or have allergies are exempt from mandatory vaccination

Care home staff who are pregnant, have severe allergies or had an adverse reaction to the first dose, will be exempt from mandatory vaccination.

In July, the government revealed that from 11 November, everyone working in a care home will have to be vaccinated. In order to be fully protected by this date, all staff have to have had two doses by 16 September.

In new guidance detailing exemptions, the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) has revealed that as of 9 September, 90.4 per cent of care home workers have now had a first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, with 82.2 per cent of care home staff now fully vaccinated.

Claire Armstrong, director of Adult Social Care Delivery at DHSC has written to all care home providers and managers telling them that from today ‘people working or volunteering in care homes who have a medical reason why they are unable to have a COVID-19 vaccine will be able to self-certify that they meet the medical exemption criteria’.

This self-certification which does not require any proof is temporary and will run for 12 weeks until the NHS COVID Pass system is launched.

‘Care home workers who are exempt will need to sign the form and give this to their employer as proof of their temporary exemption status,’ said Ms Armstrong.

She added that ‘once the NHS COVID Pass system is launched, care home workers will need to apply for a formal medical exemption through that process’.

Vic Rayner, chief executive of the National Care Forum believes that the new guidance advising those who feel they are medically exempt to self-certify “has just complicated an already difficult situation for employers and their staff”.

She said: “The current situation facing the social care workforce is like nothing seen before, with many seeing an increase in staff exits and experiencing significant difficulties to attract new staff and retain existing staff.

“Given that the government is now consulting on widening the policy to cover all frontline health and care staff, they should delay the date of 11 November for the go–live of this policy in care homes and align the implementation dates across the whole health and care sector.”

The letter from the DHSC gives a list of examples of medical exemptions for those working or volunteering in a care home. This includes if someone has a learning disability or is autistic and finds vaccination distressing and those have severe allergies to all COVID-19 vaccines as well as those who had an adverse reaction to the first dose such as myocarditis.

A time-limited exemption is also available for pregnant women should they choose to take it.

Individuals that have received a COVID-19 vaccination abroad can also self-certify as medically exempt. This is because it is not clinically appropriate for them to be vaccinated in the UK if they have already received a partial or full course of vaccination overseas.

The union GMB is still urging the government to drop the policy of mandatory vaccination with Rachel Harrison, National Officer, saying: "If employers and Ministers are to tackle the vacancy crisis then they must drop this policy, fix poverty sick pay rates, and raise pay – GMB is demanding no less than the £15 an hour that care workers deserve.”

You can access the self-certification form by clicking here