Lawyers see no grounds for mandatory vaccination of teachers in Chechnya

According to the law, to date it is impossible to force a person to be vaccinated, but teachers, refusing vaccination against coronavirus, will risk losing their jobs, the experts interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" have noted in their comments on the initiative of the Chechen authorities.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that Elkhan Suleimanov, the Chechnya's Minister of Public Health, said that in late September-early October, the republic will start vaccinating teachers against COVID-19. The Chechen teachers interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" did not rule out that vaccination in Chechnya may be compulsory.

Evgeny Chernousov, a Moscow lawyer, told the "Caucasian Knot" that it is impossible to legally force a person to get vaccinated against coronavirus. However, a teacher is at great risk if he/she gets infected with coronavirus and infects others.

"If some teacher principally refuses to get vaccinated and later gets infected and then infects children, then serious charges may be brought against him – both from the state and from children's parents. In the teacher's actions, one can see a violation of Article 293 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation "Negligence", according to which the teacher can at least be fired. Subsequently, parents of infected children can sue him/her under articles providing for intentional harm to one's health. The court will not side with such a teacher," Mr Chernousov has concluded.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on September 5, 2020 at 11:17 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.