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The Care Quality Commission will not take action against hospitals that decide, after a risk assessment, that it is safer to keep such staff in place.

NHS England staff must have a first jab by February 3 to be fully vaccinated by April 1.As of Thursday last week, an estimated 77,591 staff had not had a first vaccine.

It was feared the rule would lead to tens of thousands of nurses, midwives and doctors being sacked.

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However, the care watchdog has now said the law against employing unvaccinated staff does not supplant regulations that require NHS trusts to keep patients safe by maintaining adequate staffing levels.

Professor Ted Baker, CQC chief inspector of hospitals in England, said: “New regulations requiring registered healthcare providers to only deploy fully vaccinated staff in patient-facing roles do not supersede other regulatory requirements.

“Hospital trusts may need to make difficult risk-based decisions.”

It comes as 62,399 new Covid cases were reported in the UK yesterday, excluding Scotland. A further 85 people have died, excluding Northern Ireland, a total of 155,698.

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