DKG: “Our goal is a 100 percent vaccination rate in hospitals”
13.12.2021 12:42
With the entry into force of the Vaccination Prevention Act, facility-specific vaccination requirements are official. By March 15, 2022, all employees in hospitals and many other health facilities, without exception, must have provided full proof of vaccination, otherwise there will be serious consequences. For employees without proof of vaccination, the responsible health authority will first impose a ban on entering the facility in question and employers will have to arrange for them to be released without continued payment of wages. Ultimately, if proof of vaccination is not provided at a later date, terminations are unavoidable.
The law only provides for exceptions in cases where vaccination is not possible for medically certified reasons. All professional groups are subject to this vaccination requirement, regardless of whether they involve patient-related activities such as nursing and medicine, or administration and other areas in the hospital.
Although, according to studies by the Robert Koch Institute, there is a comparatively high vaccination rate of more than 90 percent in German hospitals, compulsory vaccination makes employers responsible for doing everything possible to persuade those who are still undecided to vaccinate. Intensive and individual educational discussions have proven to be extremely helpful in the past. The hospitals should also maintain low-threshold vaccination offers for this group of people in the coming weeks.
“It is our big goal not to lose anyone if possible and to achieve a 100 percent vaccination rate with the help of education,” explained Dr. Gerald Gaß, CEO of the German Hospital Association (DKG). “We urgently appeal to all hospital employees who have not yet been vaccinated, regardless of their professional group, to reconsider their previous decision.”
In addition to their special responsibility for patients, hospitals and their employees also serve as role models for society as a whole. Ultimately, the goal of achieving the highest possible vaccination rate across the board is about not overloading the hospitals and the staff there. The aim is to contain severe progression after a corona infection and thus provide the many thousands of patients with other serious illnesses with the quickest and best possible help. “The fact that we currently have to put so many patients on the waiting list also affects our employees in the clinics themselves, because it is their aim to help the patients in the best possible way. “That’s why we appeal to the clinic management to do everything they can to convince employees who have not yet been vaccinated and at the same time we warmly ask all employees to accept the vaccination offers in the coming weeks,” said Gaß.