Just under 10 per cent of staff at Queen’s and King George hospitals remain at risk of losing their jobs at the beginning of April.

New government legislation means NHS workers must receive their first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine by February 3 or have their contracts terminated.

A statement released by Matthew Trainer - chief executive of Barking Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust (BHRUT), which runs the two hospitals - revealed 750 out of 7,538 (9.9pc) staff members had not yet had their first dose.

The figure is a significant advance on the 1,300 who had not been jabbed when Mr Trainer addressed the trust’s board on January 11.

However, Mr Trainer said on January 27 that if there was not a significant further reduction, the trust would face a “difficult” situation after April 1.

“This looming deadline is causing anxiety for those who wish to remain unvaccinated and, in areas of low uptake, there is the potential it will pose a risk to the delivery of some services,” he said

He assured the public that the trust “should be able to operate normal services in most areas except maternity”, where 47 out of 300 midwives are yet to be vaccinated, which is compounded by an existing 10pc vacancy rate.

Mr Trainer said: “We will concentrate midwifery staffing on the labour ward and ante-natal and post-natal care and we’ll have to further restrict access to our midwife-led birthing centre at Queen’s Hospital.

“We will work hard to maintain safe services and we know other providers in north east London are likely to face similar difficulties.”

The number of unvaccinated nurses in the trust’s emergency departments has fallen from 45 to six over a short period.

Mr Trainer said this had been achieved by a “targeted approach with one-to-one conversations with nurses”.

Last Friday, unvaccinated staff and their supporters held a demonstration outside Queen’s Hospital against the policy.

Romford MP Andrew Rosindell has also voiced his opposition to the plans.

Mr Trainer told the trust’s board earlier this month that it was important to “recognise and respect” the concerns of members of staff opposed to mandatory vaccination.