Plans reported by The Telegraph, say compulsory vaccinations for NHS staff will be delayed until into the spring of April next year. However, Prof Jonathan Van-Tam, the Deputy Chief Medical Officer has suggested the “darkest months” of the pandemic still lie ahead.

       However, compulsory vaccinations for care home staff are still expected to be introduced next week.

       The measure comes into force from November 11 and means up to 60,000 people could face losing their jobs.

       When asked how a Christmas lockdown could be avoided on Wednesday, Prof Van-Tam said: “Christmas, and indeed all of the darker winter months, are potentially going to be problematic.”

       He continued: “I think the things that are really going to determine this are, first of all, human behaviours and caution over the winter months, but particularly in the next couple of months if you're talking about Christmas, so it's how cautious we are.

       “The next one is how well the vaccination programmes go. We've got a few more months to run, and I think we'll be in a much calmer set of waters by spring.

       “But I think, until then, caution – be very careful.

       “This is not quite over and vaccines, boosters, are really important.”

       Health Secretary Sajid Javid said last week he was “leaning towards” making a Covid jab a condition of employment for NHS staff.

       READ MORE: Van-Tam refuses to rule out Christmas lockdown

       According to the latest NHS figures 90 percent of staff have been fully vaccinated.

       However, around 120,000 are still not double vaccinated.

       The Department of Health and Social Care said on Wednesday the plans had not been decided.

       A spokesman said: “We have taken action to introduce vaccination requirements in care homes and we recently consulted on extending this further across health and other social care services.

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       “No final decisions have been made, and we will set out our response in due course.”

       In the last week deaths have increased by 13 percent and 217 were reported on Wednesday.

       In an interview with the BBC, Professor Van-Tam said he was concerned with the number of deaths which show Covid was “starting to penetrate into older age groups.”