Police Chief Jan Švejdar warned on Tuesday against introducing mandatory vaccinations for selected professions. He warned that the police could lose 10,000 people who have refused vaccination so far.
“Before a decision is made on the compulsory vaccination of specific professional groups, it is necessary to discuss and clarify the consequences that this could have for them in practice. For the police of the Czech Republic, I cannot imagine this happening at the moment, ” Švejdar wrote on Twitter.
So far, nearly 82 percent of police officers and civilian police employees have received at least the first dose of the vaccination, which Švejdar described as an excellent result.
However, I am not sure whether the police can afford to lose up to 10,000 qualified people who have so far refused the vaccine, ” he added.There are about 40,000 police officers in the force, and about 10,000 civilian employees.
Compulsory vaccination for selected groups is being considered by the government. It could apply from February next year to people over 60 years of age, paramedics and integrated rescue system workers, and people working in social services.This is because of the rapid spread of covid-19 and the growing epidemic threatens to overwhelm hospitals.
An inter-ministerial commission will discuss the possible introduction of compulsory vaccination. Health Minister Adam Vojtěch (ANO) said he would like to have the debate concluded by the end of this week and will present the ministry’s position to the government next week.