Vaccinated healthcare workers may continue to work if deemed a close Covid contact – Hiqa

Current HSE policy states that healthcare workers identified as close contacts must restrict their movement. File picture.

Healthcare workers who are vaccinated against Covid-19 may be exempted from restricting their movements and continue to work if they are deemed a close contact of a confirmed case.

The Health Information and Quality Authority (Hiqa) has advised that an exemption may be considered for healthcare staff that have completed their vaccination schedules in the previous two months and where staff are essential to maintaining critical services.

Any exemptions must be in line with HSE guidance and follow a risk-based assessment by senior management, Hiqa said.

Current HSE policy states that healthcare workers identified as close contacts must restrict their movements, although an exemption can be made under strict conditions.

Up to January this year, 14.5% of healthcare workers who were identified as close contacts subsequently tested positive for Covid-19.

Absenteeism rates due to Covid-19 have placed a “continued strain” on acute and community health services, in particular on residential care facilities, the advisory noted.

Figures collated by the Health Protection Surveillance Centre show that close to 7,000 healthcare workers tested positive for Covid-19 in the first two weeks of January, with nurses and healthcare assistants in hospitals and nursing homes most affected.

The Hiqa advice was issued to the National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet) following a request to examine the issue.

“We have advised Nphet that healthcare workers who have completed the full Covid-19 vaccination course and the vaccine-specific time period to achieve full immunity should be considered for derogation from restricted movements,” Dr Máirín Ryan, Hiqa’s deputy CEO and director of Health Technology Assessment, said.

Based on available data from research and clinical trials there should be a two-month window after vaccination before the exemption is considered, she added: “In the first instance, this should be limited to those who have completed vaccination within the previous two months.”

Hiqa said the exemption should only be used alongside testing, active monitoring and supervision by local management and occupational health and should be reviewed and revised as more information and data from vaccination programmes and trials became available.