From March 15, care home staff will not be legally-required to be double-jabbed against Covid-19.
After a month-long consultation, the Government has confirmed plans to U-turn on the policy - which would have also meant that frontline NHS workers and others in "regulated social care settings" would have needed to have had both vaccinations by April 1.
This comes after the consultation found 90% of those asked supported revoking the vaccine mandate rules.
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According to the Government's own estimates, the rule cost the care home sector up to 40,000 staff - and NHS figures from last autumn showed there were more than 1,500 unvaccinated care home workers ahead of the deadlin e.
The consultation was announced just days before the last date - February 3 - on which NHS staff could have got their first jab in order to still have been able to work in the health service from April 1.
The social care vaccine mandate was announced in the summer of 2021 and came into force in November.
The decision has been published on the Department of Health and Social Care website.
The announcement reads: "Government intends to revoke the regulations making vaccines a condition of deployment for health and social care staff, and sought views on this through consultation.
"The government’s response to the consultation has now been published. In the light of consultation, the government is proceeding with revocation and the regulations revoking vaccination as a condition of deployment in all health and social care settings will come into force on 15 March 2022."
The published report responding to the consultation states: "The consultation responses showed clearly the strength of feeling about the policy, both through the large number of total responses received and the clear preferences indicated.
"90% of respondents supported revoking the requirement with 9% opposing this proposal. There was some variation between different groups, with members of the public most likely to support revocation (96%) whereas 30% of managers and 22% of organisations providing health and care services opposed revocation."
In its response to this, the Government has also noted that there was "widespread dissatisfaction" with how plans to revoke the policy were communicated.
Speaking this week, Guy Kirk - boss of home-care firm Home Instead South East Northumberland - echoed this and told ChronicleLive : "On the vaccination programme, my view - and one I've shared with my staff - is that everyone should take their vaccinations and their boosters, and we've had an amazing response from our caregivers.
"Most providers felt the best way of persuading people to get vaccinated was by education and encouragement.
"As a company - with a lot of hard work and commitment from all our staff - this resulted in 95% of our staff choosing to get vaccinated.
"Of the few who did not want a vaccination, the government decision seemed to harden, rather than soften their position. Perhaps because they felt they should be able to make their own decision about the issue."
He added the policy had led to a "stressful time", saying: "There was much work involved for us and other providers in making sure we had met with all unvaccinated staff, and to try and persuade them whilst explaining the potential consequences.
"We had to initiate a formal process because - if mandatory vaccinations had continued - [this] would have led to them losing their jobs. A very stressful time for all involved."
When the Health and Social Care Secretary Sajid Javid announced plans to consult on revoking the policy, UNISON's regional secretary Clare Williams was among those to welcome the decision, but said it had taken too long.
The union represents thousands of nurses, healthcare professionals and care workers around the North East.
She said: "This was the right thing to do. But it shouldn’t have taken the government so long to realise the huge mistake it was making.
"Ministers were repeatedly warned the jab rules would cause staffing chaos for the NHS and the care sector but chose not to listen. Unfortunately, much of the damage has already been done."
NHS leaders including Dame Jackie Daniel - chief exec at the Newcastle Hospitals Trust - also welcomed the plans and shared their misgivings with mandatory vaccination as a policy.
Dame Jackie said: "What we found right throughout the vaccination process is that by providing staff with more information and working with them, we've had huge success.
"I think that's a much much better approach."
At the time, Sajid Javid said: "The evidence shows that the risk of presentation to emergency care or hospital admission with Omicron is approximately half that of Delta. Given these dramatic changes, it is not only right but responsible to revisit the balance of risks and opportunities that guided our original decision last year.
"While vaccination remains our best defence against Covid-19. I believe it is not longer proportionate to require vaccination as a condition of deployment through statute."
