German care providers warn the sector can’t afford further staff shortages under an impending vaccine mandate
Many German households could “have a problem getting the care they need”Daniel Schloer (owner of SunaCare GmbH), stated to Reuters, “If the government makes Covid vaccine mandatory within the healthcare industry, then it will be compulsory,”
Schloer’s organization provides 24-hour home care services for the elderly in Germany, matching clients with private nurses from other EU states, primarily Poland.
The German population has a 70% inoculation rate, but Schloer estimates that 40% of the caregivers his company employs have a rate around 40%. This means that staff members who are not willing to get vaccinated may be banned from being employed under the new Covid jabs mandate.
Figures from Germany’s Federal Association for Home Care and Nursing cited by Reuters suggest staff in the care sector are already stretched, as the organization estimates that 300,000 Eastern European medical staff – who have a lower vaccination rate – care for roughly four million Germans.
Germany’s lawmakers backed the imposition of vaccines to health workers in December as part of their efforts to curb the Omicron-related wave of Covid infected in Germany.
“This vaccine mandate is necessary because it’s completely unacceptable that, after two years of the pandemic, people who have entrusted their care to us are dying unnecessarily in institutions because unvaccinated people work there,”After the vote was supported by MPs, Karl Lauterbach, German Minister of Health, said that.
Medical workers in hospitals, nursing homes, doctors’ offices, or staff who are working with people with disabilities or in other health facilities will have to show proof of vaccination or that they have recently recovered from the virus. If the government goes ahead with its plans, then this mandate will take effect in mid-March.
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