Most Ontario long-term care workers have just under two weeks to receive their third dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, but unions and industry groups say more time is needed to meet the goal of the government, as staff infections reach record levels and workers struggle to access appointments.
The government has ordered booster doses for workers in the sector, citing the heightened risk to vulnerable residents living in the households that saw thousands of deaths and outbreaks early in the pandemic.
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Workers, volunteers and students have until January 28 to receive their third dose and remain on the job, if enough time has passed since the second dose. People who became eligible for boosters after January 1 have until March 14 to get the third shot, and those with recent COVID-19 infections will also have more time to get their shots.
The Ministry of Long-Term Care says most staff are currently eligible for the third dose. As of Jan. 12, about 64 percent of those people had already received a third dose, a spokesman said Friday, adding that “the expectation remains that eligible staff will receive a third dose by Jan. 28.” .
But with the Omicron variant driving outbreaks, worker absences and staff infections to record numbers, those inside say the goal, while important to protecting residents, will be nearly impossible to hit in time at all. the sector.
“We should aim to do it on the 28th, but understanding the circumstances of each of these households,” said Sharleen Stewart, president of SEIU Healthcare, a union that represents long-term care workers in the province. “It really depends on individual households and circumstances right now.”
He said extending the looming deadline on a case-by-case basis would make sense, especially as workers struggle with intense workloads due to staffing shortages, which predate the pandemic but worsened during the Omicron wave.
“Right now, everything in the lives of these frontline workers is challenging,” he said.
Home-based clinics would help get more people vaccinated faster, Stewart said, something that is happening in some places but not across the province. It has also become a challenge for people to book appointments outside of work now that all adults in the province are eligible for boosters and clinics prioritizing education workers and children before schools reopen on Monday.
Lisa Levin, executive director of AdvantAge Ontario, which represents nonprofit and municipal long-term care homes, said there have been “quite a few barriers” to meeting the Jan. 28 deadline for booster shots.
“Many households will not be able to comply and we hope that the ministry can delay it,” Levin said in an interview on Friday.
Hesitancy is also a problem, he said, with some people unwilling to mix vaccine types, and others surprised by the new three-dose requirement that was announced in late December, a few weeks after the mandatory two-dose rule.
“People who are hesitant, this is a tough decision for them, and potentially they have had to do it once, then twice, and then they have to do it a third time,” he said. “Eventually some of them just say forget it.”
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He also noted that because Ontario has not mandated vaccines for any other sector, some people may choose to go to work elsewhere in the health system rather than meet the third dose deadline.
The president of the Ontario Council of Hospital Unions, a branch of the public sector employees union, said he also thinks meeting the looming deadline will be difficult given the current pandemic situation.
“I think pushing back the deadline would make a lot of sense,” said Michael Hurley.
He said the stress workers have been under in the past two years also needs to be factored in with less rigid deadlines and on-site access to vaccinations.
Hurley also pointed to the need for more guaranteed sick days so people can take time off if they have side effects.
The Ontario Long-Term Care Association also acknowledged that “there may be some challenges” in getting all staff to meet the Jan. 28 deadline because many workers have been infected and others are unable to access timely appointments in their regions.
Chief Executive Officer Donna Duncan said households and health system partners are working on “regional solutions” to improve access to third doses, including some hospitals inviting long-term care staff to their clinics in the place.
Dr. Peter Juni, director of research for the Ontario COVID-19 Scientific Advisory Board, said while the situation is challenging, the deadline is important for residents to be protected as Omicron is at its most widespread and dangerous. .
“It’s not something we would need three months from now. It is really in the middle of this crisis,” he said.
A Friday memo to operators from the associate minister for long-term care offered some clarity on the possibilities for extensions to be made individually, not sector-wide.
Erin Hannah wrote that households can request seven-day extensions on a “case-by-case” basis for people in extenuating circumstances, with the possibility of repeat extensions for the same person.
Examples of such circumstances included not being able to get a vaccination appointment, if a workplace clinic was canceled due to an outbreak, if someone between the ages of 18 and 29 is waiting for their third dose from Pfizer as recommended by the Ministry of Health, or if a person was recently infected with COVID-19.
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