“80%” of doctors and health workers not vaccinated as per the obligation against the coronavirus still work “because the law is not applied” and in any case, for those suspended, it is “abusive exercise of the profession”. To explain it to beraking latest news Salute is the president of the National Federation of Orders of Surgeons and Dentists (Fnomceo), Filippo Anelli, remembering that health professionals only once suspended from the professional register cannot actually practice.
“The possibility that there are unvaccinated doctors and health workers who work, with the ‘blindfolded’ of the local health authorities, is certainly there”, explains Anelli. And we are not talking about a minimum percentage but “80% of health workers who are working, despite not having the legal requirements to do so, namely vaccination, because the law is not applied”. The law, in fact, reminds Anelli, “it has not given the mandate to the professional associations to carry out the reconnaissance of the members who have not been immunized. It is a task entrusted to the ASL. And without this verification we have our hands tied“, he explains.” To date, the orders of doctors who have received partial lists of non-immunized and have been able to take the measures of suspension from the register, according to Fnomceo monitoring, are about twenty. But we have 106 Orders in Italy! So more than 80% did not receive the lists that allow the suspension. And, at least theoretically, we can say that 80% of health workers who had to be suspended because they were not vaccinated are still active “.
“It is an estimate – specifies the president of Italian doctors – which is not based on certain numbers but which can give a sense of the problem: if 80% of the Orders have not received the lists of operators to be suspended, it means that 80% of those who were found to be unvaccinated continue to do their job“. For Anelli this is a serious situation that has many unpleasant consequences.” The law, in practice, has not been applied for 5 months – complaint – had to be put into practice from the day after its publication, on April 1st this year . Failure to apply is leading to a non-credibility of the institutions. The rules must be applied. If we believe that they are not applicable, it means that they are wrong and therefore must be changed. I can understand that there are problems with the system if necessary operators are excluded from the work, but the law must be either applied or canceled, there is no third way “.
As professional orders, Anelli adds, “we are in fibrillation because we are custodians of the register that allows citizens to check if a professional is authorized to work. A doctor who is registered in the Register can exercise, but if he does not meet the requirements established by law and this is not reported to us by the ASL, there is a difficulty on our part, to date, in guaranteeing clear lists. It is a question of being able to guarantee what our role requires and the ability of citizens to be informed “.
Anelli complains that, to date, “there are no controls for law enforcement. There are health care companies that allow doctors to be doctors, despite the explicit prohibition. This is incredible. In this context, my appeal is: ‘if you fail to enforce this rule, it will be eliminated’. There are local health authorities that close their eyes “, he complains. And not only for doctors, there are many categories involved: nurses, psychologists, therapists, laboratory technicians … all must be vaccinated in order to work. I can understand that the system can go into crisis given the shortage of personnel and there may be problems. But this is the law, it must be respected “.
“DOCTORS SUSPENDED FROM WORK? ABUSIVE EXERCISE OF THE PROFESSION”
“Doctors suspended for not having an anti-Covid vaccine cannot work at all, unless they are used for tasks that are not ‘medical’. The law only provides for the requirement of vaccination in order to exercise. The ASL may decide to have the unvaccinated professional do the employee or other activity, but cannot be a doctor“, explains the president Anelli again to beraking latest news Salute.
“Today those who work without vaccination commit a crime: abusive exercise of the profession. This says the law. Vaccination is an essential requirement to be able to carry out the profession. The law is clear. It is a crime and the judiciary must intervene “, he concludes