“The decision to remove unvaccinated health workers is aimed at protecting the health of citizens and was originally adopted by the Plenum Co. as a constitutional measure” notes o Minister of Health Thanos Pleuris regarding the decision of the Council of Ministers according to which the measure had to be revised.

As he notes, “with the latest decision of 2332/22 of the 3rd Division of the Council of State, questions of constitutionality regarding the extension of the measure are being raised. We are waiting for the decision to be published in order to evaluate it in its entirety.”

“We assure citizens that all necessary measures will be taken to ensure that the implementation of the decision does not endanger public health,” he added.

Council of Ministers decision gives unvaccinated health workers the opportunity to return to work

The possibility of returning to work of medical workers who have not been vaccinated is opened by the decision of the State Council, which recognized as unconstitutional the extension of mandatory vaccination of medical workers provided until the end of the year.

The Supreme Court, to which POEDIN applied, ruled that the ruling in question to extend the mandatory vaccination of medical workers until the end of the year (12/31/2022) is unconstitutional, since the competent services were to, as determined, reinstate assessed the need for the measure.

In particular, the seven-member composition of the 3rd Section of the Supreme Court of Cassation under the number 2332/2022 (Chairman, Vice-Chairman Giorgos Tsimekas and Rapporteur Vassilis Androulakis, State Counselor) ruled that the decision to extend the validity period of the reassessment of the mandatory vaccination of health care workers until December 31, 2022 years is contrary to the constitutional principle of proportionality.

At the same time, the Councilors of State rescinded the ministerial decree governing the recruitment of fixed-term employees in accordance with the provisions of article 50 of Law no. 4825/2021.

The competent Department of the Council of Europe, before taking a decision, took into account the previous decisions of the Plenum, which concluded that the measures taken to protect public health from coronavirussuch as mandatory vaccination of workers should be periodically reviewed by the competent government authorities depending on existing epidemiological data and the development of sound scientific assumptions.

Thus, state advisers note in their resolution that more than 8 months have passed since the adoption of the measure for mandatory vaccination of employees of healthcare institutions, i.e. “a period which, by virtue of the nature of the measure and its consequences, clearly exceeds what is reasonable, without, however, being subject to reassessment, based on current scientific and epidemiological data at that time, the value, effectiveness and consequences of coronavirus vaccines and the course and evolution of the pandemic.”

However, any decision regarding unvaccinated health workers must be taken immediately after the decision of the Council of Europe.