All countries across Europe have launched or are launching their COVID-19 vaccination programmes. Vaccine doses are limited at this point, and countries have defined priority groups for vaccination, including those persons most at risk of infection and mortality.
Frontline social care workers are at increased risk of exposure to Covid-19 and of transmitting an infection to vulnerable service users, and are therefore commonly considered a priority for vaccination.
A comparison of the prioritisation decisions in the EU 27 + UK shows that in 25 countries out of the 28, certain social care staff is considered in the very first phase of the vaccination plan.
All countries prioritise residential care workers, mostly not specifying the type of residential care service provided (e.g., whether it is elderly care or care for persons with disabilities).
Five countries identify workers in homecare services as a priority, four identify carers for persons with disabilities, and one country specifically mentions care workers for the homeless and for refugees.
Graphs based on information from the national authorities' websites.
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