In process of suspension 6,412 unvaccinated health workers

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Some 6,412 workers in the private and public health sectors who refuse to be vaccinated are in the process of being suspended, Health Minister Thanos Plevris said during a plenary session on Friday.

The minister was presenting an amendment by the health ministry, to be included in the migration ministry’s new asylum and migration bill, which was being debated in parliament and was expected to be voted on by MPs on Friday evening.

As the government’s deadline for the obligatory vaccination of health workers expired on September 1, Plevris noted that health workers who managed to get inoculated by August 31 would return to work after 14 days after having completed their vaccination, and thus stay able to offer their services to the NHS. But another amendment will be tabled next week which will allow any currently unvaccinated health worker to enter the NHS as soon as they choose to receive the first dose of a coronavirus vaccine.

A platform for auxiliary health staff to apply for temporary jobs was activated on September 1, and will remain open until September 8, to cover any gaps in services where health staff have been suspended. The NHS can handle up to 10,000 suspensions, noted Plevris, as per its original planning.

In the country’s Emergency Response Ambulance Service (EKAV) there are currently 500 active suspensions, out of a total of 4,800 workers; 400 of those suspended are ambulance crew, he added.

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