AMA Calls for Mandatory Vaccination Across Entire Health Care System

The AMA is calling for mandatory vaccinations for the workforce of the entire health care system including support staff like cleaners, receptionists and contractors as soon as practical.

With worrying numbers of COVID-19-infected frontline workers furloughed and unable to work, as well as several clusters being linked to hospitals, mandatory vaccines for health care workers are needed to sustain the health system into the future as we learn to live with COVID-19.

‘Mandating vaccines for healthcare workers must be given high priority during COVID-19 pandemic.’

"Australians must understand that we will be living with COVID-19 for a long time to come and that will inevitably involve a longer, heavier than normal reliance on our doctors, nurses, hospitals and allied health. We need to bring these workers and the environment they work in, out of crisis mode and the first step towards that is to protect them through vaccination", said AMA President Dr Omar Khorshid.

AMA proposes nationally consistent public health orders of state and territory governments to authorize mandatory vaccinations across the health care system for all staff as soon as is reasonably possible.

There is also widespread uncertainty regarding whether other occupations and workplaces can also mandate vaccinations. The law needs clarity to give employers and employees certainty.

Nationally consistent public health orders be issued by state and territory governments can provide legal protection to any employer to establish worker safety, that would benefit from a workplace vaccine mandate.

The AMA also backed the NSW Government's adoption of public health orders mandating vaccines for health care workers in both public and private hospitals.

With billions of doses administered worldwide, people have extensive data on the vaccines in use in Australia. They are incredibly safe and very effective at preventing infection, severe illness, and hospitalization. People have nothing to fear from vaccination and everything to fear from COVID-19.

The plans to reopen Australia will be a disaster unless the entire health sector is ready, and that will mean having a fully protected medical workforce.



Source: Medindia