Members of the Outbreak Management Team (OMT) have appealed to the cabinet to make a register possible in which it can be seen which healthcare employees have and have not been vaccinated. ActiZ, the trade association of approximately 400 healthcare institutions, supports this call. This would allow the vaccination rate in the workplace to be properly monitored. In the event of a low vaccination rate, the sector association can enter into discussions with the healthcare provider.
To date, little is known about vaccination coverage among healthcare workers; As a result of the GDPR privacy law, employers are not allowed to ask their staff whether they have been vaccinated or not. According to Jaap van Maas (company doctor and working at Amsterdam UMC), company doctors can offer the solution. “We can submit that knowledge to the company doctor, so that medical professional secrecy is maintained and you ensure that people can say in confidence that they have not been vaccinated.”
Several countries have taken measures to encourage vaccinations among healthcare workers. For example, an injection for healthcare staff is mandatory in Greece, the United Kingdom and Belgium. There will be no such vaccination obligation in the Netherlands, the outgoing Minister of Public Health, De Jonge, has stated several times. Recently, however, it was in the news that several companies want to introduce a vaccination obligation for their staff.
