Whilst Government had initially taken the view that vaccinations against COVID-19 would not be made mandatory, the revised Consolidated Directions on Occupational Health and Safety Measures in certain workplaces (the Directions), promulgated by the Minister of Employment and Labour, on 11 June 2021, reflect a significant change of approach.

In particular the Directions now

Global efforts have successfully developed both expedited means of testing for the COVID-19 virus and, more recently, vaccines.

Employers may thus wish to explore the introduction of workplace policies which formalise mandatory testing and vaccination protocols in order to restore their workplaces to some level of normality, particularly workplaces where remote working is not suitable.