Unvaccinated healthcare workers in Greece who were removed from their posts last year for not receiving the COVID-19 vaccine will be allowed to return to their posts, possibly before the year’s end, Greek Health Minister Thanos Plevris announced on Monday.

“Instead of making the decision at the end of the year, we will look at October’s epidemiological data, and based on that a decision will be made whether or not they will return earlier,” Plevris said during a TV interview with MEGA.

Approximately 2,200 unvaccinated workers remain suspended. One hundred seventy are doctors while the rest are nurses and other paramedical and administrative staff.

“The position we have taken as a government is that we are monitoring the pandemic,” Plevris said. “Instead of deciding at the end of the year about their fate — if they return or not — we will also look at October’s data to have a safe picture.”

An estimated 6,500 healthcare workers were suspended in September 2021 after when the ministry’s vaccination deadline for them expired. About half of them chose to get vaccinated by the end of that year while around 1,000 work using a certificate of recovery, Kathimerini reported.

Featured image: People attend a protest against government decision on mandatory vaccines for health workers in Athens, Greece, August 26, 2021. (REUTERS/Louiza Vradi)