Unvaccinated UAE govt workers required to isolate must take annual leave: WAM

Government workers who have not been vaccinated and have contracted COVID-19 - or come into close contact with a person who has tested positive - must use up annual leave while in isolation, under new government guidelines issued on Wednesday.

A directive issued by the Federal Authority for Government Human Resources (FAHR) also states that they could also be asked to work from home while in quarantine.

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For those unvaccinated government workers who do not have enough balance in their annual leave, the quarantine period will be served as unpaid leave, the circular, issued by state news agency WAM, stated.

Government workers who have had the two doses of the vaccine but still test positive for coronavirus – or have come into close contact with an infected person – must continue to isolate, as recommended by UAE health authorities, the circular said.

However, they will not be required to use annual leave to do so.

This month, it was announced that UAE government employees who have not been immunized against COVID-19 must take a weekly PCR test - and must pay for their own tests.

Staff who have had both doses of the vaccine are exempt.

To date, more than two million coronavirus vaccine doses have been administered in the UAE - more than a fifth of the country’s population.

The UAE vaccination program aims to vaccinate more than 50 per cent of the country’s population during the first quarter of this year.

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