UP to 135 care home staff in Bolton face losing their jobs in November as they have refused to be vaccinated.

England’s care workers must have had their first Covid-19 vaccine dose by last Thursday and be double-jabbed by November 11 to continue working in the care sector.

Unions have attacked the government policy and say across England, thousands of vulnerable people could be put at risk by what they describe as the ‘no jab, no job’ care homes policy.

Bolton Council has released data from the NHS capacity tracker, the national system for care homes reporting to the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) on the vaccination take up.

The data, as of 10am, on Thursday, was that of the 2,235 staff employed in Bolton care homes, 135, (six per cent) of staff have not yet received their first dose vaccination.

But health chiefs in Bolton believe the actual figure will be lower. They say some homes may not have reported the most recent data and that staff on maternity leave or long-term sick who are unvaccinated or who have not been able to prove their status will be shown in these figures.

Bolton Council’s quality assurance team has spoken to all homes who reported staff unvaccinated, and the care homes advised that there will be approximately 70 (three per cent) staff who will refuse to be vaccinated and not be able to continue to work in care homes after November 11.

The council said 10 of the 57 registered care homes in Bolton achieved 100 per cent of staff having received their first dose vaccination.

Cllr Andy Morgan, executive cabinet member for adult services, said “The mandatory vaccination of front-line care staff will obviously result in the loss of valuable staff from the care home workforce and could undoubtedly pose some difficulties in the short term which is regrettable.

“But homes affected are actively recruiting replacement staff and I would urge anyone thinking about making social care their profession to step forward and become part of what is an amazing team.”

The Unison union estimates up to 70,000 care home workers in England may not be fully vaccinated by the deadline.

They believe mandatory vaccination should be scrapped or thousands of people may lose out on the support they need.