Sajid Javid has announced that regulations making vaccines a condition of deployment for health and social care staff are set to be revoked, subject to public consultation and parliamentary approval.

The policy, announced last year, meant front-line NHS workers in England would have had to be fully vaccinated by 1 April, needing a first jab by 3 February. The deadline is no longer applicable.

The government has re-examined the policy as it considers how best to achieve public health and safety with the minimum number of restrictions or requirements on people’s lives. The government believes that the balance of opportunities and risks of the policy have now changed with the dominance of Omicron, alongside the successful booster rollout.

Since the consultation on health and wider social care staff was announced in September more than 127,000 NHS staff came forward for a vaccine and 95 per cent have now had at least one dose. After the consultation on vaccines as a condition of deployment was launched and regulations laid uptake among care home staff rose from 77 per cent to 94.5 per cent, helping to build a wall of protection.

Javid told MPs: "I have always been clear that our rules must remain proportionate and balanced, and of course, should we see another dramatic change in the virus, it would be only responsible to review this policy again."