Belgium to make COVID-19 shots mandatory for health workers
BRUSSELS (AP) — Health workers in Belgium who don't want to get vaccinated against COVID-19 will face losing their jobs.
Amid a surge of new coronavirus cases that has led hospitals to reserve half of their ICU beds for COVID-19 patients, Belgium's federal government finalized a draft bill late on Monday to make vaccination of health care workers mandatory.
Starting Jan 1, they will have a three-month window to get their shots. During that period, those who remain unvaccinated will be notified of a suspension of their contract unless they can provide a certificate of recovery from COVID-19 or negative tests on a regular basis, and will be temporarily unemployed. From April, workers without a proper justification for their refusal could be dismissed.
According to various estimates, some 60,000 health workers across the country of 11.5 million country are not vaccinated against COVID-19.
The draft bill needs to get the Council of State's approval and be rubber-stamped by the Parliament.
The move could pave the way for mandatory vaccination across all sectors amid growing support for such a move in the political class, although Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said in September he is not in favor of such a measure.
Coronavirus numbers don't look good in Belgium ahead of Wednesday's consultation committee, when De Croo is expected to announce new restrictive measures in a bid to stop the uptick of new infections and hospital admissions.
Nearly 10,000 new daily cases have been registered over the past seven days, up 27%., while hospital admissions have increased by 28% over the same period. according to figures released by Belgium's public health institute. The number of deaths also increased by 27% in one week, to 26.7 daily deaths. In total, 26,400 people have died from...
