Health personnel in the West Indies who refuse to be vaccinated will be suspended on December 31 and will be able to benefit from a conventional termination and support towards “professional retraining with a placement on training leave”, said the Ministry of Besides -Wed Monday.
They will be able to orient themselves towards a new profession ”via a“ support and professional retraining unit. “Listening and dialogue bodies for non-vaccinated health professionals” have been installed and are “operational” in Guadeloupe and Martinique, the ministry said in a statement.
Otherwise, caregivers, employees of health and medico-social establishments, home helpers and firefighters who finally agree to be vaccinated will see their suspension end with the first injection.
Guadeloupe, then Martinique were affected in November by a protest movement, sometimes violent, born of the opposition to the obligation made to nursing staff and firefighters to be vaccinated against Covid-19. Wider social demands subsequently emerged.
While the vaccine obligation was to come into force on November 15 in the West Indies, the government had finally agreed to extend the deadline to December 31.
In Guadeloupe, 10% of health professionals including 6 to 7% of caregivers are still not vaccinated today.