British Columbia requires all healthcare workers to be vaccinated

All healthcare workers and volunteers will soon have to be vaccinated against COVID-19 in British Columbia as the provincial government expands its immunization program.

Provincial health official Dr. Bonnie Henry said Monday that the vaccine mandate will take effect on October 26 and will be a condition of employment for all workers, including doctors, contractors and volunteers at health facilities. . It also applies to people who work in home and community care settings, including clients’ homes.

“We are now in a place where we need to take additional action,” Henry said during a news conference in Vancouver.

Each individual request for a medical or religious exemption will be reviewed by a committee of experts at the Provincial Health Office. Details on that process will be released soon, Henry said.

“In some cases, that may mean that people are reassigned, people are assigned to separate areas, that additional steps have to be taken like getting tested on a regular basis. But the ultimate goal for people who choose not to getting vaccinated, working in health care, is leave without pay, “said Henry.

The rule does not apply to private physicians like some physical therapists who do not have employment privileges through health authorities or their contractors, he said.

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The new mandate will apply to more than 100,000 more workers, Health Minister Adrian Dix said, although he did not have specific figures available.

Quebec has also announced mandatory vaccinations for healthcare workers starting in October. Ontario requires unvaccinated healthcare workers who do not have a documented medical exemption to take an educational session and be subject to periodic testing.

British Columbia is also administering a third dose of vaccine to severely immunosuppressed people.

Henry says that about 15,000 eligible British Columbia citizens will be contacted for a third dose according to guidance from the National Advisory Committee on Immunization. They include those who have received an organ, bone marrow, or stem cell transplant.

Henry said experts are reviewing the data to better understand the risks for another 120,000 people who are moderately immunosuppressed.

The Canadian Medical Association and the Canadian Nurses Association called for mandatory COVID-19 vaccinations for healthcare workers more than a month ago, saying it would be an “additional measure to protect patients, the healthcare workforce and the ability to of the health system “.

Henry said outbreaks in acute care settings are disruptive, especially due to a shortage of workers, and patients need to be protected.

There are small groups of unvaccinated workers, but his office has had trouble getting information on immunization in acute care facilities, he added.

Henry has already issued an order for all health care staff in long-term care and assisted living facilities to be fully vaccinated by October 12. Henry said he had heard concerns that those workers would go to acute care centers in order to avoid vaccination, but that will no longer be an option.

British Columbia said Monday it had recorded 1,984 new COVID-19 cases since Friday, averaging 661 cases per day. There were 5,825 active cases, with 278 of those hospitalized, including 139 in intensive care.

Nine more people died from COVID-19 during the three-day period for a total of 1,865 deaths.

Approximately 85.8 percent of all eligible individuals 12 years and older in British Columbia have received their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 78.4 percent have received the second.

Dix said vaccination rates are higher among healthcare workers than the general public.

The announcement of new measures came on the same day that BC’s vaccination card system went into effect in an effort to reduce the fourth wave of the pandemic.

This Canadian Press report was first published on September 13, 2021.