Health workers in Belgium who do not want to be vaccinated against COVID-19 risk their work.
In the midst of a new outbreak of coronavirus cases that has forced hospitals to reserve half of their beds in ICUs for patients with COVID-19, the federal government finished drafting a bill that makes the vaccine mandatory for patients. health workers.
They will have three months to get vaccinated from January 1. During that period, those who do not get vaccinated will be notified of the suspension of their contract unless they can present a certificate that they have recovered from COVID-19 or negative test results on a regular basis and will be temporarily unemployed. As of April, those who cannot properly justify their refusal could face dismissal.
According to various estimates, some 60,000 health workers in this country of 11.5 million people are not vaccinated against COVID-19,
The project requires the approval of the Council of State and the presidential seal.
The measure could pave the way for mandatory vaccination of all sectors. That measure is gaining support in the political class, despite Prime Minister Alexander De Croo saying in September that he does not approve of it.
The figures do not look good in Belgium ahead of Wednesday’s advisory committee, in which De Croo is expected to announce new restrictions to try to stop the wave of infections and hospitalizations.
In the last seven days, almost 10,000 new cases have been registered, an increase of 27%, while hospital admissions have increased 28% in the same period, according to figures from the Belgian Institute of Public Health. The number of deaths also increased 27% in one week to 26.7 deaths per day. A total of 26,400 people have died of coronavirus in Belgium.
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