Rijnstate: possibly only vaccinated staff for vulnerable patients | Inland

It is estimated that 90 percent of Rijnstate’s staff has been vaccinated. But without insight into which staff members are or are not vaccinated, it is difficult to optimally protect vulnerable patients against the virus, Schoo thinks.

Schoo emphasizes that the hospital will not look at the vaccination status of employees as long as it is not allowed by law, as is currently the case. “But the OMT advises the cabinet to see whether staff can be asked whether they have been vaccinated. I also make that appeal to the Minister of Health,” says Schoo.

In the coming weeks, the hospital will hold a so-called “moral deliberation” on the vaccination issue, involving staff, patients and administrators. From this deliberation, led by an ethics officer, an advice is given to the board, but they will not yet take a decision on this. “My hands remain tied to the law,” says Schoo.

In some circumstances, Minister Hugo de Jonge of Public Health called it “conceivable that employers would ask their staff to demonstrate with a corona admission ticket that they have been vaccinated against the corona virus, have recently tested negative or have already experienced an infection.” De Jonge is in talks with the healthcare sector about what is already possible in that area under current legislation.

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