Health Secretary Sajid Javid has announced that frontline NHS England staff must be fully vaccinated against Covid by the Spring of 2022 or lose their jobs.
It is expected that the deadline of April 1, 2022, will be set for unvaccinated frontline health workers to receive both jabs, Javid said.
Javid also revealed that some 103,000 NHS workers in England remain unvaccinated.
The move to make vaccination compulsory follows a consultation process which started in September 2021, looking into whether frontline NHS and care workers should be made to receive both the Covid and flu vaccines.
Javid had said back in October that he had been strongly considering compulsory vaccinations for NHS staff in England to safeguard patients and healthcare staff.
Making a statement to MPs on Tuesday, the Health Secretary said: "Having considered the consultation responses, the advice of my officials and NHS leaders including the chief executive of the NHS, I have concluded that all those working in the NHS and social care will have to be vaccinated.
"We must avoid preventable harm and protect patients in the NHS, protect colleagues in the NHS and, of course, protect the NHS itself."
Vaccinated individuals are known to be at lower risk of contracting the virus and are less likely to suffer serious symptoms, but they are still able to pass on the infection to others.
The flu vaccine has not been made mandatory under the plans, while exemptions will be made on medical grounds for receipt of the Covid jab.
Care home workers have been given a deadline of Thursday [November 11] to receive their vaccinations or be dismissed from their roles, with some exceptions made on medical grounds.
Javid informed the BBC that the number of care workers coming forward for the jab “surged” after it was made compulsory to have it in order to keep their jobs.
In the run-up to the Health Secretary's announcement, Chris Hopson, CEO of NHS Providers, urged the government to be sensitive in its tone and work with NHS trusts to try to win staff over rather than degrade those who had previously refused the jab, in an effort to avoid an exodus of healthcare staff in what is already a difficult environment for recruitment into the sector.
Subsequently in his announcement, Javid warned against the scapegoating of healthcare workers who have refused vaccination up to now, saying that they should instead be supportive to make a "positive choice" by coming forward for the jab.
Over 92 per cent of frontline NHS staff have received their first dose of the Covid vaccine, and 89 per cent are fully vaccinated.
Over 45.8 million UK residents have been fully vaccinated, equating to 79.7 per cent of over-12s. 87.4 per cent of over-12s have received at least one dose. 81 per cent of the general working-age population have received both doses.
32,322 daily confirmed cases of Covid-19 were reported on Monday [November 8], while 1,191 deaths were reported over the seven days leading up to Tuesday [November 9].
Elsewhere, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are yet to make any move which would make it compulsory for NHS workers or care home staff to receive the Covid vaccine.
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