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Between Mandate and Morality: Navigating Care Home Recruitment and Mandatory Vaccination during COVID-19

Author

Listed:
  • Emily Yarrow

    (Newcastle University Business School, Newcastle University, UK)

  • Shiv Varma

    (Head of Talent Acquisition, Team Care Homes)

  • Matthew J. Brannan

    (Newcastle Business School, Northumbria University, UK)

Abstract

We document the lived experience of Shiv, a care home recruitment manager, during the period of mandated employee vaccination in the COVID-19 pandemic. Care homes in the United Kingdom, as in many parts of the world, became a brutal front line in the battle to mitigate the pandemic’s worst effects. Residents and staff were among the most vulnerable to infection, a risk heightened by failure to test incoming residents and employees. In response to rising mortality in care homes, the UK government made vaccination a condition of employment from 11 November 2021. Through Shiv’s reflective narrative, we examine the ethical tensions and practical challenges of enforcing mandatory vaccination in care homes – and the confusion and consequences that followed its abrupt withdrawal.

Suggested Citation

  • Emily Yarrow & Shiv Varma & Matthew J. Brannan, 2026. "Between Mandate and Morality: Navigating Care Home Recruitment and Mandatory Vaccination during COVID-19," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 40(2), pages 348-359, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:woemps:v:40:y:2026:i:2:p:348-359
    DOI: 10.1177/09500170251396382
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