Belgium ordering vaccines for health care workers

Belgium will require health care workers throughout the country to be vaccinated or risk losing their jobs, according to The Associated Press.

The requirement, which is set to be enacted on Jan. 1, gives Belgian health workers three months to get vaccinated, the AP reported.

The health workers must provide evidence of vaccination or face a suspension of their contracts until they provide evidence they are vaccinated or proof of past recovery from COVID-19, the news service noted, adding that those without evidence of either may be dismissed from their posts by April.

Across Belgium, an estimated 60,000 health care workers are unvaccinated, according to the AP.

Prime Minister Alexander De Croo has reportedly said that he is opposed to a sweeping vaccine mandate across all employment sectors in Belgium, but support for such a measure is growing in the political class. 

Belgium is expected to announce more-restrictive measures to curb case loads increase. Approximately 10,000 new daily cases were reported in the country in the past week, which is a 27 percent increase, notes the AP. Deaths have also gone up by 27 percent in Belgium, and some officials are mulling a return to remote work until Christmas. 

According to data from Reuters, about 74 percent of Belgians are vaccinated against COVID-19.