The nation's leaders should mandate COVID-19 vaccination for doctors, nurses and hospital cleaners, according to Australia's peak medical body, with the federal government declaring the issue is "very high on the agenda" of all state and territory chief health officers.
The Australian Medical Association has been concerned by the number of frontline workers infected with COVID-19, and wants mandatory vaccinations in hospitals to prevent any more clusters at vital medical facilities.
AMA President Dr Omar Khorshid said hospital workers should be prioritised, with any worker in the healthcare sector subsequently included in the mandate.
"We've seen figures from individual hospitals of around 15 per cent of nurses, for instance, who are not vaccinated," Dr Khorshid said.
"We suspect those numbers are higher once you start to look at other types of employees at hospitals, like clerical staff and cleaners.
Vaccine mandate 'high on agenda' for states and territories
Speaking in Canberra on Tuesday, Health Minister Greg Hunt said while the issue was primarily a matter for the states and territories, it had been raised through the government's medical expert panel, the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee (AHPPC), which includes all the state and territory chief health officers.
"This is now, I think, very high on the agenda of the state and territory chief health officers," he said, adding it both protected patients, individual workers and prevented the workforce from being furloughed.
New South Wales has already mandated vaccinations for all healthcare staff, with workers required to have at least one dose by the end of September.
Some private companies have already gone their own way with vaccination requirements, with Virgin recently joining Qantas in announcing a no jab, no work policy for its staff.
While the federal government has mandated vaccines for aged care workers, it has said it won't be introducing any new orders.
Mr Hunt said mandating vaccinations at a Commonwealth level among aged care workers had significantly bolstered vaccination rates in the sector.
