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The government mandate requiring health-care workers to get vaccinated against Covid is not unconstitutional, as it serves the smooth functioning of the health-care system, the Constitutional Court ruled on Friday.

Under the government decree making Covid vaccination mandatory for health-care workers, those refusing to get the jab are to be fired and are not entitled to severance pay.

Health-care employees lodged hundreds of appeals with the Constitutional Court challenging the constitutionality of the mandate.

2-3,000 Healthcare Workers Refusing to be Vaccinated Face Termination
2-3,000 Healthcare Workers Refusing to be Vaccinated Face Termination

According to calculations, the number of employees facing termination can be between 15 and 80 in the 200 larger institutions, while 5 to 10 people could be shown the door in each of the smaller hospitals.Continue reading

In its Friday resolution, the court rejected the complaints, saying that the vaccine mandate served to guarantee the smooth functioning of the health-care system, patient safety and the enforcement of patients’ right to life and health. The vaccine mandate for health-care workers is constitutional and a “proportionate restriction”, the court ruled.

The Constitutional Court also cited the World Health Organization’s (WHO) position that public health goals such as the containment of a pandemic warrant the use of legal coercion as a last resort.

Featured photo illustration by Péter Komka/MTI


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