The end of the flu season means unvaccinated health-care workers and visitors to health-care facilities in B.C. are no longer required to wear masks, says the provincial health officer.
The flu season is declared over when when infection rates show a steady decline in the community and low levels of the flu are circulating.
Effective today, Perry Kendall has lifted the Influenza Protection Policy that requires unvaccinated health-care workers, volunteers and visitors to Island Health care facilities to don a mask. This was the second full year of the policy.
This year, an average of 80 per cent of health care workers in B.C. reported that they were vaccinated, Kendall reported. On Vancouver Island, 76 per cent of staff reported being vaccinated, compared with 71 per cent the year previous, said Suzanne Germaine, spokeswoman for Island Health.
“I’d like to thank all the health-care workers, volunteers, students and members of the public for their support over this past flu season,” Kendall said.
“This year, we again surpassed the total percentage of staff who were vaccinated, ensuring that our vulnerable patients and seniors were protected as much as possible against what can be a life-threatening illness.”
There were 215,106 units of flu vaccine given out through Island Health during the flu season, which began Dec. 1, 2014.
