Gergely Gulyás, Head of the Prime Minister's Office, said the government has decided to give employers the right to require vaccination against Covid-19 as a precondition of employment in order to ensure workers' safety.
According to MTI, Gulyás said the state, as an employer, will also apply the measure, and mayors will have the right to introduce the requirement at local councils. He said the government has also decided to make mask-wearing mandatory on public transport again from Nov. 1, and to introduce a ban on visitors at hospitals. The measures are aimed at encouraging as many people as possible to get vaccinated. All epidemic projections show that during the fourth wave the number of infections could jump significantly and the number of patients who need hospitalisation or ventilator care could also increase, so the situation requires the introduction of new measures, he said.
The number of infections is lower in countries with a higher vaccination rate and “the lower the vaccination rate, the more tragic the situation becomes,” Gulyás said. Hungary is among the best in the region but still below the EU average, he said. Giving employers the right to require vaccination has been recommended by employers’ associations, he added.
Photo credit: MTI