Thousands of health workers will be FORCED to be vaccinated as NSW mandates jabs for ALL medical staff – or they’ll be sent packing
- NSW healthcare workers must be fully vaccinated for Covid-19 by November 30
- Public health orders require workers to have at least one dose in next 5 weeks
- 20% of staff are still not jabbed despite having access to vaccine since February
- Healthcare staff must provide vaccination proof to employer or face exclusion
All healthcare staff in New South Wales will be made to get a Covid-19 jab or risk losing their jobs under new public health orders.
A vaccination mandate was announced on Thursday for all health staff working in NSW, in an effort to ensure the safety of staff and patients in state hospitals.
Healthcare workers will now be required to have at least one dose of the vaccine by September 30, and to be fully immunised or be booked in for their second jab by November 30 to continue working.
A new jab mandate imposed on Thursday now requires all NSW healthcare workers (pictured) to be fully vaccinated for Covid-19 by November 30
Among staff working for NSW Health, 20 per are still unvaccinated, despite having priority access in the Covid-19 vaccination rollout since February.
Health Minister Brad Hazzard urged staff to come forward and get jabbed to help ease pressure on the public health system, with more than 1,200 healthcare workers have entered isolation each day in the past week.
‘Many health workers in NSW are already vaccinated but if all of our staff are vaccinated it will provide greater protection for patients, visitors and other health staff,’ he said.
Eight in ten health staff (pictured) have already been vaccinated but an incredible 20 per cent are still withholding from the jab
‘The public and private health systems have a responsibility to implement every possible measure to provide a safe work environment for their staff and most importantly, safe circumstances for their patients.’
Mandatory Covid-19 vaccination will apply to all health staff in NSW in order to allow them to continue working, with eight in ten workers already vaccinated.
An exemption has been granted for workers with underlying medical conditions.
Jabs for contagious diseases such as influenza, chicken pox, measles and whooping cough are already compulsory for frontline workers.
Healthcare staff must provide proof of their vaccination status to their employer by September 30 or face losing their jobs.
NSW frontline health workers (pictured) must receive at least one dose by September 30 and be fully vaccinated by November 30
It comes as Qantas also made vaccination mandatory, requiring all of its 22,000 employees to be fully immunised against Covid-19 earlier this week.
Cabin crew, pilots and airport workers must receive both jabs by November 15 with the remainder of workers to be vaccinated by March 31 next year.
‘Having a fully vaccinated workforce will safeguard our people against the virus but also protect our customers and the communities we fly to,’ said Qantas Chief Executive Officer Alan Joyce.
As part of the national airline’s commitment to safety Mr Joyce has ‘strongly encouraged’ all staff to get jabbed, even offering paid time off to receive the vaccine.
Fully-vaccinated Sydneysiders will soon enjoy greater freedoms from September 13 after Gladys Berejiklian reached a target of getting six million jabs in arms by the end of August a week early.
Fully vaccinated Sydney-siders will soon be able to enjoy greater freedoms from September 13 – such as outdoor gatherings including up to 5 people (pictured, Sydneysiders in Marrickville)
From September 13, residents who have received both jabs and live outside the LGAs of concern will be able to attend outdoor gatherings of up to five people within 5km of their home.
For those who live in the LGAs of concern households with all adults vaccinated will be able to gather outdoors for recreation, including picnics, for up to one hour.
The NSW government released the roadmap on Thursday, showing which restrictions will be eased once the state reaches 70 and 80 per cent vaccination coverage levels.
At 70 per cent fully-jabbed, officials said family, industry, community and economic restrictions will be lifted for those who are fully vaccinated.
Once the state hits a 80 per cent coverage level, restrictions will be further eased for businesses, the wider-community and the economy.
Fully-vaccinated residents will still be banned from gathering in each other’s households, with Ms Berejiklian making it clear ‘outdoors’ does not mean backyards.