17 doctors at NRH still refused to be vaccinated

Seventeen doctors from the National Referral Hospital (NRH) some of whom are very senior ones are standing firm on their decision not to be vaccinated with COVID-19 vaccines.

Chief Executive Officers of the NRH, Dr George Malefoasi in response to a question from this magazine this afternoon said of the 95 doctors that come under the key departments of the hospital, 17 doctors have yet to be vaccinated

“We are talking to them at the moment,” he said.

Dr Malefoasi said that some of these doctors are key decision makers at the NRH.

He signaled out three of them as amongst the very important key decision makers at the hospital

However, Dr Malefoasi admits that the doctors have so far still stand on their decision not to be vaccinated.

The doctors have decided not to be vaccinated based on their beliefs.

Based on the government’s decision that all public officers must be vaccinated, the doctors now face termination if they refuse to be fully vaccinated by end of next month.

Dr Malefoasi said they would still continue to talk to them. However, he hinted that though a decision has yet to be made, they are not ruling out the possibility of recruiting foreign doctors especially for the senior positions.

“We have done that before,” he said.

Dr Malefoasi if the circumstances come hard “we would have to go that far”, he said that in reference to recruiting doctors from outside.