Health workers in NSW will no longer be required to be vaccinated against COVID-19 as the state government moves to ditch mandates for the sector.
Health Minister Ryan Park confirmed the change would be going ahead after consulting with the state’s health workforce.
“We know that COVID is still around but we’ve got to get back on with life,” he told Sydney radio 2GB.
“That means having a look at the measures we put in place during this period and seeing whether they still apply.
“We think this is one that we can engage with the workforce on and have a look to see if it’s still applicable now.”
Public health orders mandating vaccines for health professionals were brought in during the pandemic and workers who refused either quit or were sacked.
While the order expired in November 2022, some workplaces have still been able to require mandatory vaccination under their own work, health and safety obligations.
Mr Park said if a decision was made to drop the mandates, workers who lost their jobs would be able to reapply to available positions through the usual recruitment processes.
He said COVID was still a public health threat and encouraged people to keep up with their vaccinations.
“But we’ve also got to make sure that we get on with running a health system after COVID and we can’t continue in the same way that we did in the middle of the pandemic,” he said.