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ECHR rejects request by Greek health workers against compulsory vaccination

The European Court of Human Rights has rejected a Greek request for interim measures against the compulsory vaccination against Covid-19. The request was lodged by 30 health workers in Greece.

The ECHR reasoning and decision as in a relevant press release:

Refusal of requests for interim measures in respect of the Greek law on
compulsory vaccination of health-sector staff against Covid-19

On 2 September 2021 the European Court of Human Rights received two applications against
Greece, lodged by 30 health professionals who work independently or in public health institutions.

Under Articles 2 (right to life), 3 (prohibition of inhuman or degrading treatment), 4 (prohibition of
slavery and forced labour), 5 (right to liberty and security), 6 (right to a fair hearing), 8 (right to
respect for private and family life) and 14 (prohibition of discrimination) of the European Convention
on Human Rights, the applicants complain about the provisions of section 206 of Law no. 4820/2021
which impose compulsory vaccination of health-sector professionals against Covid-19 as a condition
for being able to continue exercising their occupation.

The applicants also requested that the Court apply interim measures (Rule 39 of the Rules of Court)
and that it suspend immediately the application of the law.

On 7 September 2021 the Court decided to reject the requests for interim measures, holding that
they were outside the scope of Rule 39 (interim measures). The decision was taken by the duty
judge responsible for interim measures.

The Court pointed out that measures under Rule 39 of the Rules of Court are decided in connection
with proceedings before the Court, without prejudging any subsequent decisions on the admissibility
or merits of the case. The Court grants such requests only on an exceptional basis, when the
applicants would otherwise face a real risk of irreversible harm1.

The applications are currently pending before the Court; they have been registered under the
following numbers:
Application no. 43375/21 (Kakaletri and Others v. Greece), lodged by 24 applicants, of whom 18
are independent doctors and six are employed in public medical institutions.
Application no. 43910/21 (Theofanopoulou and Others v. Greece), lodged by six public-sector
employees working in public medical institutions (doctors/a nurse/paramedic).

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3 comments

  1. May as well just scrap the Human Rights Bill altogether then since nobody seems to be taking a blind bit of notice of it.

  2. It looks that even the ECHR has been ‘bought’ by the pharma industry: another very good reason for a Grexit and total collaps of the EU…..

  3. What about the human rights of patients and people in care whose lives could be put at risk by unvaccinated staff?

    The solution is very simple. You allow unvaccinated workers in the health and care sector to work providing they undergo daily testing at their own expense. The Lateral Flow and LAMP tests are cheap and quick. If the test takes X minutes the workers would be required to attend work X minutes before their shift starts and undertake the test under supervision. They would be allowed to work as long as the test was negative. Payment for the tests could be stopped out of their salary at cost price. Everybody then has a three way choice: 1) Get vaccinated, which is free, 2) Pay to be tested or 3) Don’t work in the health sector.