The Board of Directors of the General Hospital – Health Center Employees« Association issued a statement »TRIFYLLEIO” regarding the law mandating COVID-19 vaccination for healthcare workers. Read the statement below:

EMPLOYEES' ASSOCIATION
GENERAL HOSPITAL – Kythira Health Center
«TRIFYLLEIO»

KYTHIRA: Thursday, August 5, 2021

At the invitation of the president, the Board of Directors of our association held an extraordinary meeting on August 4, 2021, at 2:30 p.m. The meeting was convened in response to the enactment of Law 4820/2021, Official Gazette No. 130 of July 23, 2021, specifically regarding the mandatory vaccination (CHAPTER C, ARTICLES 205, 206, 207) against the COVID-19 coronavirus.

The members of the association’s Board of Directors voted unanimously IN FAVOR of vaccinations but AGAINST making them mandatory, and by a majority we fully agree with the position of P.O.E.D.I.N., which it expressed in a press release dated July 28, 2021, Ref. No. 4738, which we are in turn sharing:

ATHENS July 28, 2021

Ref. No.: 4738

PRESS RELEASE

MANDATORY REQUIREMENTS FOR HEALTHCARE WORKERS WILL CREATE ENORMOUS PROBLEMS FOR HOSPITAL OPERATIONS

THE POWER OF PERSUASION, RATHER THAN COERCION AND COMPULSION, WHICH HAS BEEN POEDIN’S POSITION FROM THE VERY BEGINNINGwill increase vaccination coverage rates

Union leaders and POEDIN members gathered on Tuesday, July 27,2021 outside the Ministry of Health to demand that the law mandating vaccination for healthcare workers not be enforced, making our position in favor of vaccination clear once again. Once again, we were met with shuttered doors and riot police at the Ministry of Health, and the ministers refused to receive us—an unacceptable and reprehensible act. Healthcare workers, who were the first to be vaccinated when the vaccine arrived in the country—and at a time when the majority of citizens were skeptical— continue to provide their services under adverse conditions.

Vaccination rates reach 90% when those with natural immunity are taken into account. In contrast, the rate for the general population stands at 45%. We are therefore a role model, as POEDIN’s stance has contributed significantly to increasing the vaccination rate among healthcare workers and the general public. However, the government’s commitments regarding inclusion in the High-Risk Occupations category, the conversion of contract workers to permanent status, a healthcare allowance, compensation for workplace accidents, including the deaths of colleagues from COVID-19, etc., were forgotten. Healthcare workers, whether vaccinated or not, adhere to personal protective measures and do not put patients at risk. Moreover, no outbreaks have occurred in hospitals for which the staff could be held responsible. In many hospitals, vaccinated colleagues are contracting COVID-19 with mild symptoms or no symptoms at all, and their contacts (patients and staff) are being traced. Therefore, caution is obviously warranted for both vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals.

Hundreds of unvaccinated healthcare workers are already preparing to submit their retirement resignations. About 10,000 will be suspended from duty if the mandatory vaccination law is enforced. Who will replace them? When is public health most at risk? When hospitals are decimated by staff shortages or by the few unvaccinated colleagues who are adhering to personal protective measures?;

We call on the government not to insist on enforcing the law making it mandatory.

The vast majority of unvaccinated healthcare workers have not contracted COVID-19 even once, even though they work on the front lines. This means that they strictly adhere to personal protective measures.

The government must take steps to convince them. We are continuing our fight against the mandatory enrollment law. Through initiatives by the unions, we are ORGANIZING local forms of action. Upon the issuance of any regulatory act (circular, ministerial decision), we will appeal to the Council of State with the assistance of renowned legal experts.

Union leadership should inform vaccinated colleagues not to submit their vaccination or natural immunity certificates.

A notice will be issued to the management and staff of the Personnel, IT, and other offices. not to retrieve these certificates from the information system, as they constitute sensitive personal data, and we will take legal action against them and file a complaint with the Personal Data Protection Authority.

If management pressures our colleagues in the relevant offices to issue certificates without our consent, we must support them by every means possible.

STRIKE ACTION on August 26, 2021

Nationwide Work Stoppage 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. RALLY 11 a.m.