STATES MUST NOW ACT ON HEALTH WORKERS MANDATORY VACCINATION

Catholic not-for-profit hospitals are calling on Victoria, Queensland and the ACT to make vaccinations compulsory for all hospital staff as a matter of urgency.

New South Wales will be the first State or Territory to make coronavirus vaccinations mandatory for all health workers proposing to require first doses by September 30. It follows a successful lobbying campaign by CHA.

However, it is currently not mandatory for hospital staff in Victoria, Queensland and the ACT to get vaccinated against COVID-19.

Catholic not-for-profit hospitals, represented by Catholic Health Australia, are doing everything possible to vaccinate staff, while redeploying unvaccinated staff to areas with low risk of COVID contact.

But CHA Health Policy Director James Kemp says a uniform rule, like that now in place in NSW, was urgently required.

“If canned fruit companies and airlines think vaccinations should be mandatory, surely state governments should make them mandatory in hospitals,” Mr Kemp said.

“We know vaccinating health care workers protects patients and each other against infection by COVID-19. That is why it is right to require any person working within a hospital or aged care setting to be vaccinated against COVID-19.”

“This should have been done much sooner, but here we are. Every day we delay is another day where patients are exposed to unnecessary risk. There is no reason why we shouldn’t be targeting double doses for all hospital workers by Christmas or sooner.

“Of course, most hospital workers are already getting vaccinated. But for the minority who are hesitating for whatever reason, that hard push from government will draw a line in the sand. You can’t expect individual hospitals to introduce such a mandate, it creates inconsistency and exposes them to a level of legal uncertainty they shouldn’t need to bear.”