Latvian Military Orders Compulsory Jabs

Latvia's top general on Friday ordered all career soldiers in the Baltic NATO state to get vaccinated against Covid-19 by August or they will lose their jobs

Riga, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 9th Jul, 2021 ) :Latvia's top general on Friday ordered all career soldiers in the Baltic NATO state to get vaccinated against Covid-19 by August or they will lose their jobs.

"I have issued an order that makes vaccination against Covid-19 mandatory for all the professional military staff in Latvia by August 1, otherwise they will have to leave the forces," Lieutenant General Leonids Kalnins, told the public broadcaster LTV.

Personnel who do not want to get jabs "will have to make up their minds whether they will continue to serve in the armed forces or find a different job," he added.

Around 95 percent of Latvia's 6,500 career soldiers have already received at least one Covid-19 jab while 87 percent have had the second, Kalnins said, adding that Latvia's armed forces have seen only two Covid-19 infections.

Latvia's parliament is currently debating allowing employers to fire workers who refuse to get vaccinated, but the controversial proposed legislation has not yet mustered a majority votes.

As of Friday, nearly 600,000 people in Latvia had been vaccinated. The EU member of 1.9 million people has recorded 137,831 cases of Covid-19, including 2,536 fatalities.