Vaccination mandates for hesitant healthcare workers and the science advice system in Greece: a hermeneutic approach to public policy

In this article, we adopt a hermeneutics lens to show that governments and publics’ perceptions and experiences of a policy situation such as COVID-19 vaccine mandates for hesitant healthcare workers (HCWs) constitute multiple new realities or multiple problems. Based on thematic analysis of Ministry of Health press conferences and 74 interviews with HCWs, we show that HCWs and government’s understanding of the proper balance between professional responsibility and autonomy were starkly different as they understand risk in a completely different way. We argue that a case of difference of perception, especially when rooted in deep distrust towards science institutions, should be treated in a different manner than a case of moral failing on the part of professionals who fail to adhere to the principle of ‘do no harm.’ Rather than mandates, persuasion is the best strategy so that the laudable goal of increasing vaccination of HCWs and the population alike is achieved. Institutions that make use of local expertise, engage civil society and consider themselves a critical friend to government could serve as useful models for rethinking the role of science advice systems in Europe and beyond.