Covid-19: Southport respite centre 'may have to shut' over vaccine rule

The charity provides specialist breaks for people with disabilities and their carers

A respite centre for people with disabilities fears it may have to close its doors when rules requiring staff to be Covid-19 vaccinated come into force.

From 11 November, care workers across England must be double jabbed unless they are medically exempt.

The Revitalise charity said nearly a third of staff at Southport Sandpipers on Merseyside opposed compulsory jabs.

The government insisted care workers should be vaccinated to "protect their colleagues and those they care for".

A spokesman for the charity, which provides specialist breaks for people with disabilities and their carers, said the policy would lead to a staffing crisis.

Chief executive Jan Tregelles said five were refusing to be vaccinated while another seven, who were vaccinated, were "so outraged, they are threatening to resign in protest".

"Without those staff, we may have to close," she said, adding that the site already struggled to have enough workers.

'No jab, no job'

She said staff had "successfully cared for some of society's most vulnerable through rigorous infection control measures and the use of PPE" during the pandemic, "often sacrificing time with loves ones to do so".

"Now, we are having to tell them 'no jab, no job'," she said.

The centre's manager Darren Holloran told BBC North West Tonight he believed in "the right to choice and that is what we promote in our building with our guests, the right to freedom of choice and independence".

"It does not stop me from contracting Covid or spreading it to somebody else," he said.

"It is a personal choice."

Ms Tregelles said some staff were "so outraged, they are threatening to resign in protest"

Ms Tregelles added staff "do not want to put guests at risk" but strongly believed the measures "we already deploy keep our guests safe".

The Department of Health and Social Care said more than 90% of care home staff had received their first vaccine dose and "we encourage even more staff to get vaccinated to protect their colleagues and those they care for".

"Vaccines save lives and it is our responsibility to do everything we can to reduce the risk for vulnerable people in care homes," said a spokesman.

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