21.11.4

https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/coronavirus-covid19-canada-world-nov3-2021-1.6235213

Coronavirus: What's happening in Canada and around the world Wednesday | CBC News

 

Coronavirus: What's happening in Canada and around the world Wednesday

Quebec backtracks, Ontario not going ahead with vaccine mandates for health-care workers

 

The Ontario government announced Wednesday that it will not mandate COVID-19 vaccination for health-care workers, despite support for the measure from the organization representing hospitals and the province's COVID-19 science advisers, while Quebec backtracked on its plan to do so. 

In a statement, Ontario Premier Doug Ford pointed to evidence of staff shortages related to vaccine mandates from elsewhere in Canada and said existing Ontario policies will keep people safe without losing workers who refuse to get the shots.

"The impact of the potential departure of tens of thousands of health-care workers is weighed against the small number of outbreaks that are currently active in Ontario's hospitals," he said in the statement.

"Having looked at the evidence, our government has decided to maintain its flexible approach by leaving human resourcing decisions up to individual hospitals."

Ahead of today's decision, the Ontario Hospital Association (OHA) wrote to Ford in support of a provincewide mandate — a position it said was endorsed by 120 of 141 member hospitals.

The Ontario Nurses' Association also wrote to Ford, saying the current policy allowing unvaccinated workers to be tested is reasonable and citing concerns about worker shortages.

Following the announcement, the OHA expressed disappointment with the decision, saying vaccines provide the highest level of protection against disease.

"The Public Hospitals Act already requires hospitals to have communicable disease policies in place requiring proof of vaccination/immunity for 17 conditions, including measles, rubella, varicella and tuberculosis," Anthony Dale, OHA President and CEO, said in a statement.

"COVID-19 should be treated no differently. Vaccination is the best way to keep hospital staff and their patients safe from COVID-19."

Dale added that health-care workers have a moral imperative to take every precaution possible to prevent the spread of COVID-19. 

In Quebec, Health Minister Christian Dubé said the province is cancelling the vaccine mandate for current health-care workers. The move came just weeks after he gave health-care workers a one-month extension, up to Nov. 15, to get the shot, calling it non-negotiable at the time.

At a briefing Wednesday, Dubé said about 14,000 health-care workers have yet to get a first dose of vaccine. He said 8,000 of them are currently working in the field — 5,000 of them working directly with patients. 

He said vaccination will no longer be mandatory for current health-care employees but will be required for new hires. Unvaccinated employees will have to be tested for COVID-19 at least three times a week, or face suspension without pay, he said. They will also be ineligible for COVID-19 bonuses or retention bonuses, Dube added.

The government originally set an Oct. 15 deadline for health-care workers to be vaccinated but extended it by a month in the hopes of convincing additional workers to get the shot.

Speaking from the COP26 climate conference in Glasgow, Quebec Premier François Legault made it clear he was not happy with the outcome.

"To be honest, I am upset," he told reporters. "Because I have a hard time understanding how someone who studied health sciences refuses to get themselves vaccinated, even though experts around the world are unanimous, saying it's the right thing to do."

But Legault said losing unvaccinated workers could result in breaks in services for other sick Quebecers. 

"We had to weigh the inconveniences," he said, acknowledging the new policy puts some patients at risk of exposure.  "But the greater risk was to be missing nurses and not be able to treat Quebecers."

 

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backtrak: to go back along a path that you have just followed ( go back) / to say that you did not mean something you said earlier or say that you have changed your opinion ( change opinion ) 

shortage : a situation in which there is not enough of something

outbreak : a sudden appearance of something, esp. of a disease or something else dangerous or unpleasant

endorse : to make a public statement of your approval or support for something or someone

ahead of : earlier than or before someone or something / in front of someone or something / in or into the future 

imperative : extremely important or urgent 

deprive : to take something, especially something necessary or pleasant, away from someone

inconvenience : a state or an example of problems or trouble, often causing a delay or loss of comfort