Greece to bring back unvaccinated health staff: minister

Athens: Greece will restore thousands of health staff who refused to be vaccinated against Covid-19, the health minister said Tuesday, following a court ruling.

Like several other European countries, Greece brought in rules during the worst of the pandemic requiring staff at hospitals, doctors' offices and care homes to be fully vaccinated.

The move enforced a year ago led to some 6,500 unvaccinated staff being sidelined, and was strongly opposed by the main union of hospital workers.

Greece's top administrative court, the Council of State, called for the measure to be repealed last week, following a complaint brought by the union.

"The ruling will be implemented, though I tell you I think it is a dangerous decision for public health," Health Minister Thanos Plevris told Mega TV.

Plevris said the move would likely be repealed from January 1, if not sooner.

The Kathimerini daily last month reported that over 2,000 health staff are still unvaccinated, including some 170 doctors.

Over 5.3 million Covid infections have been recorded in Greece since the start of the pandemic, according to the health ministry, with over 34,000 deaths attributed to the virus.