Who is the Covid vaccine mandatory for?
The Covid vaccine could soon become mandatory for care home workers (Picture: PA)  The UK has been ramping up its Covid vaccine drive in recent days as cases of the Delta variant continue to spread across the country. So far, over 70m jabs have been given out in the UK, with 42m people having had their first dose and over 30m now fully vaccinated. There are those who will not take up the offer of a jab  but for some people in certain jobs, vaccination will almost certainly become mandatory. At the moment its not mandatory to get the Covid vaccine. Its been reported that the Covid vaccine will become mandatory for NHS workers and the staff of care homes  except for those who are exempt from having the jab for medical reasons  according to plans being drawn up by ministers. Health Secretary Matt Hancock has told the House Of Commons that the vast majority of care home workers have been vaccinated  but not all of them. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video  Figures show that 83.7% of Englands 1.5 million staff working in adult care homes had received at least one dose by 6 June, while 68.7% had been double-jabbed. They also reported that 89% of the 1.38 million NHS England staff had their first dose and 82% had had both by that same date. A DHSC spokeswoman told Metro.co.uk: Vaccines are our way out of this pandemic and have already saved thousands of lives  with millions of health and care staff vaccinated. Currently there are no mandatory vaccines for health and care home staff (Picture: Getty Images)  Our priority is to make sure people in care homes are protected and we launched the consultation to get views on whether and how the government might take forward a new requirement for adult care home providers, looking after older people, to only deploy staff who have had a Covid-19 vaccination or have an appropriate exemption.  The BBC has reported that care home staff will be given 16 weeks in which to become vaccinated. Currently there are no mandatory vaccines for health and care home workers  while NHS staff are required to get the Hepatitis B jab this is guidance rather than in law. The mandatory Covid jab would only apply to NHS and care home workers in England, with the governments of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland saying they have no plans to follow suit. Follow Metro across our social channels, on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram  Share your views in the comments below