Coronation Street and Emmerdale rising Covid cases are ‘down to stars and staff refusing the vaccine’, fear set staff

STUBBORN big-name stars and backroom staff on Coronation Street and Emmerdale are refusing to be Covid jabbed, claim on set sources - leading to a rise in cases on the soaps. 

The household name stars are risking the lives of older cast members and jeopardising production by exercising their right not to be vaccinated, insist soap insiders.

And as cases of the Delta variant continue to rise across the UK, ITV bosses fear production on both shows could soon be halted.

And Coronation Street in particular has a host of elderly cast members such as Bill Roache and Barbara Knox.

An ITV insider told us: “It is, of course, everyone’s personal choice whether they are vaccinated or not.

“On both soaps, there’s a handful of cast members as well as production staff who say they won’t be vaccinated and that’s up to them.

“However, there is a matter of collective responsibility and in an industry where the cast and crew groups are small, a positive Covid test can cause real production nightmares.

“There’s also the matter of giving the virus to older people who despite being vaccinated themselves are still at risk of infection.”

ITV had no comment when contacted by The Sun. 

Rise in Covid cases

Yesterday it was revealed that John Whiston, head of ITV in the north, had urged stars to stick to precautions – or risk throwing the soaps into chaos.

He sent an email to crew claiming there is an “alarming number” of coronavirus cases on both shows.

Just three days ago the Queen made a visit to the set of Coronation Street – and even popped into the Rovers Return.

The Monarch dropped by to meet the cast of the world’s longest-running soap, which is celebrating more than 60 years on our screen.

After the crew’s royal excitement, they’ve been told coronavirus cases on set are worse than in January when it shut down production for two weeks.

And it comes at a critical time for the soap, with actors filming a long stint of explosive episodes in what’s been subbed Super Soap Week.

The increase in cases has reportedly already caused havoc with filming schedules but ITV declined to comment.

Schedule chaos

Filming on both Emmerdale and Coronation Street was suspended in January so bosses could rewrite scenes.

Producers decided a break was necessary after a manic work schedule for both cast and crew during the coronavirus crisis.

The Sun also revealed there was a suspected Covid-19 outbreak on the Yorkshire set of Emmerdale, which resulted in a deep-clean and a pause in filming.

Crew on both soaps were told to down tools to give the production a chance to refresh having worked relentlessly through the coronavirus crisis.

The show’s script writers had to rewrite scenes, which proved impossible due to pandemic rules – such as those including kissing and fighting.

Bosses revisited both show’s health and safety requirements to ensure all of the cast and crew remained in good health.

Another source added: “It’s been a really hard year for both soaps. They’ve had to work through the most difficult period in television history.

“Everyone has decided that a break is in order, which is almost unprecedented.

“The storyliners plan a long way in advance, and there’s certain things they’d have hoped they could write in for later in the year.

“But scenes that involve kissing, fighting and anything that really breaks social distancing are out for now. So there’s had to be rewrites.”