Medical staff suspended for refusing COVID-19 jabs return to work in Greece

By Ahmet Gencturk

ANKARA (AA) – Healthcare staff suspended for refusing COVID-19 vaccination have started returning to work in Greece, local media reported on Monday.

Following a decision by Greece’s Council of State, 2,000 staff are back at work after a 16-month suspension, according to public broadcaster ERT.

The Panhellenic Federation of Public Hospital Employees (POEDIN) said the return of workers of the National Health System and the EKAB ambulance service will be a “huge breather for the system.”

“Had the two Council of State decisions not existed, we would today be speaking of the layoffs of the unvaccinated staff and not of their return, as Health Minister Thanos Plevris had repeatedly stated,” read a POEDIN statement.

The group said the problem of chronic understaffing in the Greek public health sector remains unresolved, urging the government to offer permanent positions to all contract staff and hire more permanent workers.