High court strikes down extension of law obliging Covid-19 vax for healthcare professionals

The Council of State (CoS), Greece’s highest administrative court, on Thursday ruled that an extension – until Dec. 31, 2022 – of a law obliging employees at healthcare units to get Covid-19 vaccinations, or face suspension, is unconstitutional.

The ruling was handed down by the 3rd CoS court, in a seven-justice composition, points to the period between the first ministerial decision for mandatory vaccination of healthcare professions and the time passed, eight months, without a re-evaluation taking place based on more timely data and information. Therefore, according to the court, the effectiveness of the measure was not evaluated in light of the course of the pandemic.

The national federation of public hospital employees had sought recourse to the CoS.