Health workers to return under strict protocol

Unvaccinated health workers of the National Health System (ESY) will return to work under a strict protocol that will include regular rapid testing.

Almost 15 months after the implementation of the measure putting those health workers who chose not to be vaccinated against Covid-19 on furlough, the plan now is to allow their return, most likely as of January 1, following a decision of the Council of State, which found a recent extension of their suspension was unconstitutional.

“The will of the Ministry of Health is that the protocol be implemented for the return of the unvaccinated to ESY will be as strict as necessary to ensure that there is no risk to public health,” Health Minister Thanos Plevris told Kathimerini.

He expressed his disagreement with the return of unvaccinated health workers, which he described as dangerous to public health, but made clear that the ministry “will, as it ought to, respect the decisions of the Council of State.”

The first step will be the publication of the decision of the country’s highest administrative court and this is expected by next week. Taking this as a given, the Ministry of Health’s plan is that within the next fortnight its Expert Committee on Covid-19 will meet with the aim of deciding on a “safety protocol” under which the unvaccinated will return to ESY.