Almost 3,000 Barts Health hospital staff yet to have Covid jab, figures show

The government has said NHS staff must be fully vaccinated by April 1 <i>(Image: PA Wire/PA Images)</i>
The government has said NHS staff must be fully vaccinated by April 1 (Image: PA Wire/PA Images)
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Thousands of hospital staff at an east London trust are still yet to have a Covid jab, figures show.

NHS data says Barts Health NHS Trust, which runs Newham, Mile End, The Royal London and Whipps Cross among its hospitals, has one of the lowest vaccination rates in the country.

Government rules on Covid vaccines mean any frontline NHS worker not fully vaccinated by April 1 will face the sack.

The vaccination guidelines say at least eight weeks is needed between first and second jabs. This gives NHS staff who need a first dose until February 3 at the latest.

Barts has the third largest workforce of any NHS trust in England with 25,589 staff.

Across the trust’s five hospitals, just 61.4 per cent of staff have had all three doses of the coronavirus vaccine, 83.9 per cent have had two jabs and 88.9 per cent have had at least one.

The figures show 2,840 frontline staff members – 11.1 per cent – are yet to get their first coronavirus vaccine.

The trust was contacted for comment.

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