A care worker who lost his job due to the decision to make vaccines mandatory for staff has said he feels 'betrayed' and 'shunned' as the ban comes into force today.
From today, all carers in England must have had two Covid vaccines to keep their jobs or they will be sacked. Estimates suggest up to 60,000 workers will not get the jabs by that deadline.
Unions have claimed hundreds of homes may be forced to close their doors for good because of staffing shortages.
The sector was already short of 100,000 workers before the pandemic struck.
Dave Kelly, 32, started working for a care home in the North West after coming back to the UK at the start of the pandemic.
The Merseyside native said he took the job to 'do my bit of good for people', and has only had three weeks off.
Pictured: The above graph shows the proportion of staff working in care homes for the over-65s who have received their first and second doses of the vaccine ahead of the deadline
However, he has lost his job due to the Government's deadline for all care home staff in England to be doubled jabbed, unless medically exempt.
He said he worried for the future of the care sector.
'How I feel today: let down, abandoned, betrayed, shunned, disbelief, anger, panic that we are the first but won't be the last, concern that this system will collapse under Tory failures,' he said.
'Most importantly, I feel dread for the millions of people who will now have to live or work in a crippled care sector.'
Mr Kelly said he had become close with the residents and families that use the care home, and had received cards and gifts from them.
'I previously worked as a guide over in Asia but now I am sitting in front of gifts and thank you cards from over 40 families I helped this last two years and still take out family members who have lost a loved one in our care,' he said.
He added that he was 'most annoyed' at being forced to leave the service now when he had worked through the pandemic without PPE.
'I am most annoyed at how we have been allowed to work the front lines with little to no protection the entire time, yet as of tomorrow we are now an instant danger?' he said.
Meanwhile, a Bristol care worker of 15 years told how she now works in Lidl after she had to quit her job because she refused to have the Covid vaccine.
Ruslana Mironova also said there would be a staffing crisis in the care industry and in the NHS because of the rule.
Care workers were given a couple of months to get their jabs when the enforcement was announced in September, but Ruslana said she resigned her position on the day back in September when that order came in.
The 46-year-old worked through the pandemic and for the past year at Badminton Place, a luxury £10m 'all-inclusive' care home that opened in Patchway on September 1, 2020.
Bristol care worker Ruslana Mironova (pictured), who pre-emptively left her job to work at Aldi, said there would be staffing crises in the care industry and in the NHS because of the rule
'I'm very disappointed, it's very sad,' said Ruslana. 'I've worked as a carer for 15 years and it is a job that I love. It should be our choice whether to have the vaccination or not.
'I worked through the pandemic when at the start they were sending patients out of hospitals without testing them and they had Covid and we weren't given the right PPE, and the Government didn't think much about the safety of patients or carers then.
'I care about the people I care for, and I'm really disappointed with the Government, not with my managers - they have no choice either,' she added.
Since leaving the job in September, Ruslana said she looked for work in the NHS before taking a job at Lidl.
'It was difficult - what could I say when asked why I left care work after 15 years? So I have change my career by 360 degrees.
'I am not afraid of speaking out on this. It's not fair for the 30,000 carers who have left their job and it's not fair for the people being cared for - there is already a shortage of carers and NHS staff and now the Government is creating an even bigger problem,' she added.
The Government said the science indicates having the Covid-19 vaccination reduces the risk of catching and transmitting the virus, so reduces the risk of staff passing the virus on to residents and patients in care homes or care settings.
The rules were announced first in June this year for carers, who had to be double vaccinated by September, ahead of the enforcement, which begins today, and the rules for NHS staff announced yesterday come into force on April 1.
The requirement only covers workers in England while health authorities in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have not indicated they plan similar regulations, something which Ruslana says questions the whole scheme.
'I am not an anti-vaxxer. I have had all the other vaccines all my life. I have the flu jab every year. That's a vaccine that has been developed over many years and is shown to be safe.
'The Covid vaccine has been made so quickly and I don't want to be an experimental mouse. The time is too small to know the long-term effects of this vaccine,' she said.
All the health authorities and medical experts in the UK have confirmed that the various Covid-19 vaccinations licensed to be used in Britain are safe for use, provide people with protection from catching and transmitting Covid, and drastically reduce the chances, if a vaccinated person does catch Covid-19 of the virus leading to hospitalisation or death.
The Health Secretary said the same rule that mandates the Covid vaccine for NHS workers has had an effect with care home workers - since it was announced in June, with a September cut-off, the numbers of unvaccinated care staff in England has dropped from 88,000 to 32,000, he told Parliament.
Yesterday, Javid defended his 'no jab, no job' policy for the NHS, which was announced this week, saying it was the 'duty' of NHS workers to get the jab in order to protect patients, and insisted that he does 'not want to see anyone have to walk away from their job'.
'This is all about patient safety, we know vaccines work, we know that they reduce the risk of you being infected, so it reduces the spread of an infection,' he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.
'People whether they are in care homes or a hospital bed, they are particularly vulnerable to this virus, it could be fatal. It is our duty to everything we can to protect them.'
Care boss urges No10 to delay 'no jab, no job' policy until April over fears exodus of 60,000 unvaccinated staff will backfire and KILL elderly residents Mike Padgham called on ministers to push back the deadline for workers to be double-jabbed to next spring He said this would bring it into line with that for frontline NHS workers, who don't need to be jabbed until April He warned some elderly residents could die because homes would be left with 'unsafe' staffing levels
Care boss Niccii Gillett said today she was left 'heartbroken' by leaving notes from unvaccinated staff. She said their Surrey home had lost six of 36 employees
BY LUKE ANDREWS FOR MAILONLINE
No10 was today urged to delay its controversial 'no jab, no job' policy for care home workers until April over fears the plans could backfire and kill elderly residents.
From tomorrow, all carers in England must have had two Covid vaccines to keep their jobs or they will be sacked. Estimates suggest up to 60,000 workers will not get the jabs by that deadline.
Mike Padgham, chair of the Independent Care Group, which represents providers in Yorkshire, has called on ministers to push back the deadline to next spring, which is when NHS workers are legally required to have both of their vaccines.
He warned mandating the jabs could kill vulnerable residents because homes would be left with 'unsafe' staffing levels.
Niccii Gillett, a care home manager in Surrey, said she was left 'heartbroken' by leaving notes from employees who chose to resign rather than get the Covid vaccine.
The 37-year-old revealed they had lost six out of 36 employees at the home she manages in Woking, two of which had been working there for more than seven years. Every letter said they wanted to stay in their jobs.
The plea came after it was announced yesterday that NHS workers will have until April 1 to get their two doses. The Government originally planned to make vaccination mandatory in the health sector this winter but delayed the plans after being there could be a mass exodus. Some 103,000 are still yet to receive one dose.
Mr Padgham told BBC Radio 4's Today programme the delay was needed to help the sector through the winter, and to match the timeline set yesterday for the NHS.
Unions have already claimed hundreds of care homes may be forced to close their doors for good from tomorrow because of staffing shortages. The sector was already short of 100,000 workers before the pandemic struck.
But ministers say the policy will ensure vulnerable residents are 'properly protected'. A care home near Preston received an award today for getting every staff member double-jabbed against the virus.
Sajid Javid dismissed fears tomorrow's deadline would cause elderly residents to die, however. The Health Secretary insisted the policy was 'manageable' for the sector.
Mike Padgham (left), chair of the Independent Care Group which represents providers in Yorkshire, has called on ministers to push back the deadline to next April in order to
