Covid-19: Consultation on health staff mandatory jabs awaited

The Department of Health in Northern Ireland says it has yet to publish a consultation on mandatory vaccines for new health and social care recruits.

Last November, the health minister announced plans for a public consultation on mandatory Covid-19 and flu vaccinations for new staff.

The compulsory scheme could involve all new recruits to health and social care and anyone who moves job within the health system.

Agency workers could also be included.

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The consultation was launched as England announced plans to make mandatory vaccinations a legal requirement for front-line health staff by 1 April.

However, this week that plan was scrapped.

In a statement to BBC News NI, a spokesperson for the Department of Health said that it wanted to "take into consideration the evolving situation in England".

The statement said that the consultation had not been published because of "other urgent priorities which the department is dealing with as a result of the latest surge in the pandemic response."