Mandatory Vaccination FAQs

COVID-19 Mandatory Vaccination – Information for Managers 2022 01 19

COVID-19 Mandatory Third Dose Vaccination Manager Guidance 2022 01 31

As of 12 January 2022, healthcare workers in Victoria must get their COVID-19 booster vaccination and provide evidence to their employer.

Victorian Health Minister Martin Foley issued the Pandemic COVID-19 Mandatory Vaccination (Specified Workers) Order (No. 2) which imposed Pandemic Order obligations upon operators of healthcare facilities in relation to the vaccination of workers, in order to limit the spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome (COVID-19) within the population in these settings.

The Pandemic Order requires healthcare workers who were eligible to receive their COVID vaccination booster by 12 January 2022 to receive their third dose by 12 February 2022. Healthcare workers who become eligible to receive their COVID vaccination booster after 12 January 2022 must receive their third dose by 29 March 2022.

The mandatory vaccination requirement does not apply to healthcare workers who have a valid medical exemption.

Western Health will have evidence of dose dates for all vaccinations administered at a Western Health vaccination centre. No action is required by employees who received their third dose at a Western Health operated site.

Staff who receive their third dose elsewhere must email COVIDVaccination@wh.org.au with their:

• Immunisation History Statement from Medicare Online.
• Name (as it appears on their pay slip) and their employee number.

Please note that your COVID vaccination certificate does not currently show details of third dose and therefore is not adequate evidence. Please do not send this as evidence.

Whilst you may have an exemption of up to 4 months after having COVID disease, the latest clinical advice is that people can safely receive a dose of a COVID vaccine after all of their symptoms have subsided and they are well. Western Health strongly encourages our staff to get your third dose as soon as you are able, to ensure that you are fully protected against all COVID variants.

Staff can no longer use a medical certificate as evidence of COVID-19 vaccination exemption. A doctor will need to update your record on the Australian Immunisation Register to show that you have a medical exemption. Once this has been processed it will appear on your COVID-19 digital certificate. The duration of the medical exemption will be listed on the COVID-19 digital certificate.

The Pandemic Order requires all healthcare workers to be vaccinated against COVID-19, including their booster or have a valid medical exemption to be able to continue working.

The Pandemic Order requires that employers take all reasonable steps to ensure that unvaccinated workers or those that have not given evidence of vaccination or an exemption, do not enter or remain on their premises for the purposes of working.

Yes, the definition of healthcare worker in the Pandemic Order includes all people, irrespective of role, that works within healthcare. This includes all clinical and non-clinical roles.

At Western Health it means a person who is employed or engaged as a contractor (including agency and locum staff) by the health service to perform work at any of our facilities.

It also includes any retail and other business operating within a healthcare setting, including cafes, pharmacies, newsagents and florists.

Yes, volunteers engaged by the health service will need to be vaccinated to be able to undertake duties on a health service facility.

Students on placement will also need to be vaccinated to be able to be able to attend a health service.

Yes, all employees on any form of leave (paid or unpaid) will not be permitted to return to work until they have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19. From 29 March 2022 this includes three doses.

The mandatory vaccination requirement does not apply to healthcare workers who have a valid medical exemption.

• have a medical contraindication to all COVID-19 vaccines available for use in Australia, or
• have an acute medical condition such as undergoing major surgery or hospital admission for a serious illness, including COVID-19 infection where vaccination can be deferred for up to 4 months after the infection (or earlier if the medical practitioner specifies an earlier date).

If you are pregnant or planning pregnancy, you are encouraged to discuss vaccination and timing of vaccination with your health practitioner. The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and ATAGI released a joint statement recommending that pregnant women be routinely offered the Pfizer vaccine at any stage of pregnancy.

If you are trying to become pregnant, the guidance states that you do not need to delay vaccination or avoid becoming pregnant after vaccination. See resource links below.

•      https://www.health.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/2021/08/covid-19-vaccination-shareddecision-making-guide-for-women-who-are-pregnant-breastfeeding-or-planning-pregnancy-covid-19vaccination-shared-decision-making-guide-for-women-who-are-pregnant-breastfeeding-or-planningpregna_0.pdf

•      https://www.health.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/2021/08/covid-19-vaccination-pregnancybreastfeeding-and-covid-19 -vaccines-pregnancy-breastfeeding-and-covid-19-vaccines.pdf

If you are pregnant and choose not to be vaccinated, we will review whether you can work from home. Where this is not possible, we will support you to commence parental leave early.

Western Health staff can access priority vaccination appointments. Simply visit any one of our four vaccination hubs (or occasional pop-up clinics at Bacchus Marsh, Footscray or Williamstown Hospitals) with your ID badge for a ‘walk-in’ appointment. We will prioritise staff but wait times may still apply.

All Western Health employees are eligible for time off without loss of pay to travel to and from a vaccination centre (if the centre is not at your usual place of work) to be vaccinated. Prior approval from your manager is required where you need paid time off to attend a vaccination appointment.

You should return to work as soon as possible after receiving the vaccination unless you suffer an adverse event after receiving the COVID-19 vaccination.

If it is not practical or possible to receive the vaccination during work time, you may be eligible to receive up to four hours pay on a case-by-case basis.

The vast majority of people will receive either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines as their COVID-19 vaccination booster.

All three vaccines have been approved as safe and effective by Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA).

Is the vaccine safe?

Yes. Before COVID-19 vaccines are used in Australia, they must pass strict safety standards.

The COVID-19 vaccines being used in Australia have been used by hundreds of millions of people around the world.

For more information, visit the About the COVID-19 vaccine page.

Yes. The COVID-19 vaccine is very effective at preventing infection, serious illness and hospitalisation from COVID-19.

For more information, visit the About the COVID-19 vaccine page.

The Pandemic Order includes penalties for employers that do not comply with the requirements. It is a legal requirement and Western Health will comply with this legislation and will need to provide evidence of our compliance.

As an employer, Western Health could incur penalties of up to $109,044 for failing to comply.

There are penalties that apply for a person who provides false or misleading information.

If an individual refuses their employer’s requests to provide evidence of vaccination or a valid exemption, the individual won’t be subject to a penalty. However, the employer must not allow that individual to enter the facility for the purpose of working. Depending on their role, this may mean that the individual cannot work.

Western Health complies with all legal obligations required of us.

Western Health is also required by the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 (Vic) to implement ‘all reasonably practical control measures’ to ensure the health and safety of our employees. Vaccination is an important control measure to increase our ability to manage the risk of COVID-19 transmission and reduce the detrimental health impact for our people.

Western Health is required by the Pandemic Order to ensure that all employees receive a COVID-19 vaccination booster. As a result, Western Health is giving employees a lawful and reasonable direction to be vaccinated by the above dates.

Western Health will follow a process that will investigate each case individually to understand the circumstances. Liaison and communication will occur with the affected employees to ensure that there is clarity on the process as this progresses.

Western Health is currently seeking advice on the detail of what this process will include, and will update this guidance once this is finalised.

Whilst some Western Health staff are working from home at the moment, no Western Health staff work from home indefinitely. At any point in time the health service may require a staff member that is working from home to recommence working at one of our sites.

Therefore working from home is not a valid exemption to the Pandemic Order at Western Health.

The Pandemic Order does provide for some exceptional circumstances where an unvaccinated healthcare worker may be able to be engaged. These exceptions circumstances include:

• a worker is required to perform work or duties at the facility that is or are necessary to provide for urgent specialist clinical or medical care due to an emergency situation or a critical unforeseen circumstance;
• a worker is required to fill a vacancy to provide urgent care, to maintain quality of care and/or continue essential operations at the facility due to an emergency situation or a critical unforeseen circumstance;
• a worker is required to attend the facility to respond to an emergency at the facility; or
• a worker is required to perform urgent and essential work at the facility to protect the health and safety of workers or members of the public, or to protect assets and infrastructure.

Examples of these exception circumstances include the health service having a large number of workers furloughed due to exposure at a Tier 1 site, or a medical practitioner being required to attend Western Health on short notice due to an emergency situation.

If these exceptional circumstances are required to be used, then Western Health must take all reasonable steps to ensure that the unvaccinated worker only remains upon our site for the period of time necessary to respond to the exceptional circumstance, and wears PPE that includes at a minimum a surgical mask and face shield whilst on our site.

All new staff starting employment at Western Health are already being required to provide evidence of COVID-19 vaccination has part of their pre-commencement employment screening.

Rapid antigen testing is utilised at Western Health and is part of a number of tools being used to enhance the early detection of COVID – however this does not change Western Health’s obligations to comply with the Pandemic Order that was issued by the Minister for Health.