Care homes were hurled into chaos today as the 'no jab, no job' policy forced thousands of workers to say their goodbyes.
From today all care home workers — including nurses, cleaners and receptionists — must have two doses of the Covid vaccine or be made redundant.
Unions slammed the move that threatens to cripple the sector as like 'taking a sledgehammer to crack a nut'.
And care home bosses told how they had been left heartbroken by leaving letters from staff — some with more than a decade's experience — who did not want to go. One in Liverpool said they had lost seven per cent of their staff.
Unvaccinated workers surrounded by thank you cards from families they had helped said they felt 'hurt' to have suddenly being labelled 'an instant danger' and asked to leave.
And one unjabbed 46-year-old carer from Bristol who had worked in the sector for 15 years said it was 'not fair' on staff and residents for homes to suffer so many redundancies.
Estimates suggest up to 60,000 workers have lost their jobs after refusing to get the vaccine — roughly ten per cent of the workforce. This is on top of some 100,000 jobs that are already going unfilled in the sector.
Today homes were reported to be turning away patients from the NHS because they had run out of space. Estimates suggest hundreds could close and many more will need to limit bed numbers because of the staffing crisis.
Ministers defended the mandate saying care workers had 'plenty of time' to get the Covid vaccine which is safe and effective. They added that the policy was to ensure vulnerable residents received 'proper protection' from Covid.
It comes ahead of frontline NHS workers all being required to have got two doses of the Covid vaccine by April. Care bosses appealed yesterday for their deadline to be delayed until spring, warning residents could be killed by 'unsafe' staffing levels.
Surrey-based care boss Niccii Gillett (left) said she had been left 'heartbroken' by the leaving letters from unvaccinated staff. Former care worker Ruslana Mironova said she has ended up with a job in Lidl after refusing to get the jab
Helen Ormandy, who runs St Joseph's care home in Liverpool, said today they had lost about seven per cent of their staff because of the vaccine mandate. But she added they would still be able to operate safely
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
The above chart is from the Government assessment of the impact of mandating double-vaccination in the NHS (second column) and in social care (fourth column). It shows the Government expects 38,000 social care workers to leave their roles when it is mandated. But unions say the number will be closer to 60,000
One care worker who lost his job after refusing to get the vaccine said he was left feeling 'abandoned' and 'betrayed' by the decision.
Dave Kelly, 32, who asked not to be pictured, started working at a home in Merseyside to 'do my bit of good for people'.
He said after signing up at the start of the pandemic a year and a half ago he had only had three weeks off.
The former carer said: '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.
'How do 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.
'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 felt 'most annoyed' to have been allowed to work on the front lines with little to no protection initially, but was now considered an 'instant danger'.
He did not explain why he had decided not to get the Covid jab.
An unvaccinated care worker from Bristol revealed that she was now working in Lidl because of the Covid jab mandate.
Ruslana Mironova, 46, had worked at luxury £10million home Badminton Place but resigned as soon as vaccines were made compulsory.
The former carer said: 'I'm very disappointed, it's very sad [to have left].
'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 care about the people I care for, and I'm really disappointed with the Government, not with my managers — they have no choice either.
'I am not afraid to speak 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
