NSW healthcare workers could escape Covid vaccine mandate

A major change to one state’s Covid jab mandates could be actioned within weeks in an acknowledgment that the measures no longer apply.

The Covid vaccine mandate for health workers may be scrapped by the NSW government in upcoming weeks.

Consultations are under way between staff, unions and local health districts, NSW Health and chief health officer Kerry Chant.

Health Minister Ryan Park said it’s time to move on. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Nikki Short

Health Minister Ryan Park said while “Covid is still around”, it was important to “get back on with life”.

“That means running a health service and that means having a look at the measures we put in place during this period and seeing whether they still apply – and we think this is one that we can engage with the workforce on and see if it’s still applicable now,” Mr Park said to 2GB’s Ben Fordham.

Vaccines have been mandated for healthcare workers since the pandemic. Picture: NCA NewsWire / James Gourley

“Without a doubt, we know that Covid is still around and we’ve been saying the best thing every one of us can do at the moment is just keep up to date with their vaccine schedule – and that includes healthcare workers.

“But we’ve also got to make sure that we get on with running a health system after Covid and we can’t continue to operate in the same way that we did in the middle of the pandemic.”

He said for people who had lost their jobs due to vaccine mandates, there would be an opportunity to regain that job if the decision went through.

Mr Park said it was time to ‘get on with life’. Picture: NCA NewsWire Christian Gilles

“If their job becomes vacant or there’s still that job available, they’ll still be able to put in an application through that normal process should we make a decision to drop these mandates,” Mr Park said.

An influenza vaccine mandate remains in place for healthcare workers in certain positions.