Covid-19: Walsall care worker angry at losing job over refusing vaccine

Staffs working in care homes in England have been told they must be fully vaccinated by 11 November unless exempt

A care home worker said she is angry and upset at losing her job because she has refused to have a Covid-19 vaccination.

Chelsea, who did not want to give her surname, said she had concerns about the safety of the jab.

Those working or volunteering in a home in England must be fully vaccinated by 11 November unless exempt.

The 24-year-old, of Walsall, said being told she cannot work in the industry after seven years is "heartbreaking".

She works as an office care co-ordinator at the home and said she does not feel people should be forced to have the vaccine if they do not want to.

"I cannot fault my company at all because they have been absolutely brilliant," Chelsea said.

"They do not want to get rid of me, they wish this was not happening and they have supported me throughout the whole thing."

The National Care Association (NCA) said about 3,000 care home jobs in the West Midlands could be lost with staff refusing the jab.

The deadline for care home staff to have their first vaccination was 16 September

In July, MPs approved compulsory vaccinations for care home staff in England after ministers expressed concern about the low take-up of the vaccine among some care home staff.

The deadline to have the first vaccination was 16 September.

Sarah, not her real name, is a carer from Wolverhampton who also decided not to get vaccinated and said her bosses told her on Thursday they had no choice but to dismiss her.

"I am absolutely devastated because it is a job I enjoy doing, I have been there a long time," she told BBC Radio WM.

"I have not had freedom of choice regarding whether I have the vaccine or not, I am forced to have it to keep my job but it was OK to work through the pandemic without the vaccine."

Joyce Pinfield, from the NCA, said the number of staff leaving care homes due to their refusal to be vaccinated would have a "tremendous impact" on staffing.

She added care home staff felt "singled out" with other healthcare workers not facing compulsory jabs "after all we are all looking after the most vulnerable in society".

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• Latest updates for the West Midlands

The government has said compulsory vaccinations in care homes will save lives and claim it is "a sensible and reasonable step" to protect care home workers and the people around them.

The Department of Health and Social Care said more than 90% of care home staff had received their first vaccine dose.