Young workers should be allowed to return to offices before second jab, says ex-vaccine chief

Most workers will be 'fine either way', argues Clive Dix, former head of the vaccine taskforce

Requiring young, healthy staff to be double jabbed before they are allowed to return to the office is unnecessary, the former head of the vaccine taskforce said in a rejection of “jabs for jobs” policies.

Clive Dix, who stepped back from his role as interim chairman of the taskforce in April, said companies should understand what double vaccination actually means for their staff.

He said: “If people are young and they get double vaccinated, they’ll probably get slightly less illness than if they’re single-dosed, but most of them will be fine either way. Vaccination doesn’t actually completely stop transmission. It just slows it down a bit.”

He said strict rules are required for those with weakened immune systems but added: “Apart from that, if a company is just young, healthy people, I don’t think we need them.”

Ministers have said it will not be a legal requirement for people to have received two doses of a Covid-19 jab before returning to the office, but that it may be a “good idea” for firms.

US companies including Google and the Bank of America have introduced policies to stop unvaccinated workers coming into offices, although the search engine is first enforcing this in its US campuses.

Around 76pc of the UK adult population is now double vaccinated, with the booster roll-out for vulnerable people due to kick off next month. Mr Dix, chief executive of Manchester-headquartered drug discovery firm C4X Discovery, said there was a duty to boost these people at some point, although he added there was “no need to rush”.

Reports emerged earlier this month that the Government had already agreed contracts for doses of Covid-19 vaccine that could be administered in 2022, on top of the 517 million doses it has already ordered. Mr Dix said this was “disturbing”.

Some vaccines such as the Valneva vaccine and the Novavax jab are yet to receive approval in the UK, but are expected to come on stream soon. Mr Dix said: “At that point, we should be choosing which vaccines we use, not just rushing out spending money now.”