Covid-19 Update

Tim Loughton Excerpts

Tuesday 9th November 2021 Commons Chamber

[Sajid Javid]

We will be publishing the impact statement today.

[Tim Loughton (East Worthing and Shoreham) (Con)]

Although I want everybody to be vaccinated, I do not support mandatory medical interventions, and I worry about the impact on the already high vacancy rate in the workforce. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State must have done some risk assessments, so can he tell me this? As previously asked, how many of the 10% who are un-jabbed does he assess will be subject to medical exemptions? What calculations has he made of the likely job losses overall? When will he publish a list of exactly what personnel are involved? Will it involve cleaners, for example, who do not have medical engagement with patients but are certainly in proximity to them? When will he publish the evidence and the data on the number of patients who have been infected with covid by unvaccinated staff while in hospital?

[Sajid Javid]

I hope my hon. Friend appreciates that there were a lot of questions. The impact statement will be published today, and the impact assessment will be published before he and other Members are asked to vote. Those documents will help to answer their questions. I also draw his attention to the experience thus far of the condition of deployment measure that we took in a similar way with care homes, and how dramatically the numbers were cut from the point of announcement.