Boris Johnson and Sajid Javid thank Yorkshire care workers but call on them to get vaccinated

The pair told care workers to get their Covid jabs ahead of the compulsory deadline next month while on a tour of the Leeds Royal Infirmary on Saturday afternoon, ahead of Conservative Party conference which begins tomorrow.

Earlier this week, The Yorkshire Post reported that more than 4,500 care workers across Yorkshire and the North East have not yet received a first dose of a coronavirus vaccine.

Mr Javid told reporters he thinks that “the sector should be as secure and as safe as possible, And one of the central things to do to make it safe is to ensure that everyone that has a frontline job actually caring for vulnerable people, is vaccinated.

“So I think it's right that like many of the countries across the world, that we have required care workers to eventually get vaccinated, it's right that you're gonna have a cut-off date to do that.”

Agreeing with his Health Secretary, Mr Johnson added: “ I want to thank our workers for everything that they did in the pandemic and that they have done so far, and they have been totally in the front line.

“And the tragedy is that so many care workers lost their lives, looking after people and trying their best to keep them safe.”

Appealing directly to care workers, Mr Johnson added: “This is something that is great for you.”

Mr Javid was also full of praise for local health staff, later adding: “Here the NHS, the volunteers and others have done a really amazing job to roll out the vaccine and now they're rolling up boosters.

“We met people here today. We met people here today who have already got that booster, and that's how we're gonna beat back - keep this virus at bay - is by making sure that we get vaccinated.”

On their visit to the Leeds hospital, Mr Johnson and Mr Javid had a tour of the complex where they saw building work on the site of the new children’s hospital, as well as meeting patients and staff in the MRI unit.