One in 10 care home staff not fully vaccinated against Covid as deadline looms

More than a tenth of care home staff have yet to be fully vaccinated against Covid, latest figures show, just one week before jabs become compulsory.

Analysis by The Telegraph reveals that 63,000 care home staff have still not had both vaccines, while almost 13,000 workers have left the sector since the new rules were announced.

Health chiefs will on Wednesday launch a five-month recruitment drive aimed at persuading people to take jobs in social care, with more than 100,000 vacancies, and rising numbers abandoning the sector.

The TV advert and social media campaign will tell the public "there's no better time to become a care worker" and encourage them to pursue a career with "variety" and "flexible hours".

In some areas, including Manchester, Nottingham, Birmingham and Westminster, one in five care staff are not yet fully vaccinated, the official figures show.

Regulators raised concerns last month that the new requirement could worsen the “fragility” of the sector and force closures of homes, with low-paid workers instead choosing to work in pubs and restaurants.

The Care Quality Commision (CQC) found staff vacancies in care homes had risen by more than 70 per cent in the last six months.

Ministers are currently weighing up whether to introduce compulsory jabs for frontline health workers, despite concerns it could exacerbate staff shortages.

Since the move to mandatory jabs for care home staff was announced in June, the numbers being vaccinated has risen sharply.

When the announcement was made, 71.4 per cent of such staff had received both vaccines. Latest figures for the week ending October 14 show the figure is now 88.5 per cent.

But this still leaves 63,495 workers - more than one in nine - without a second jab.

The figures also reveal 32,240 care workers have not had a first jab - around six per cent of all workers.

This compares with 80,540 workers without a first dose - 16 per cent of the workforce - when the rules were changed in June.

However, NHS figures also show that the total number of care home staff has fallen by 12,532 over the same period.