COVID-19 vaccinations will be mandatory for workers in all of B.C.’s public and private long-term care and assisted living facilities by Oct. 12, provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said Thursday.
Health-care union leaders called the order controversial and warned it could worsen a labour shortage if workers leave as a result of the ultimatum.
“We’re announcing mandatory vaccination as a condition of employment for all workers in seniors long-term care and in seniors assisted living,” Henry said.
“This will apply to all licensed facilities, whether they are private, health-authority owned and operated, or contracted facilities.”
All volunteers and personal-service providers must be vaccinated and those who are not will no longer be able to work in these facilities, effective immediately. Unvaccinated visitors must wear masks.
Rising COVID case numbers, prevalence of the Delta variant and outbreaks in long-term care homes brought in by unvaccinated workers forced the change, Henry said.
More information on a requirement for reporting the vaccination status of health-care workers in acute care and community care is being developed with health authorities and unions, and it will be made public in coming weeks, Henry said.
There are eight outbreaks in long-term care homes, including one at Discovery Harbour in Campbell River in Island Health where just 60 per cent of staff are vaccinated.
Three outbreaks are in Fraser Health and four in Interior Health. The outbreaks are not the same as those in the pre-vaccine and early months of this year, but they are painful and disruptive to residents, said B.C. Health Minister Adrian Dix. Mandated vaccinations “is a necessary step to take,” he said.
On Thursday, the province reported 513 new cases, including 29 in Island Health. There were 3,834 active cases in the province, including 220 on Vancouver Island. On Wednesday the province reported 536 new cases, the biggest single-day increase in COVID-19 infections since mid-May. One death was reported Thursday, in Interior Health.
The B.C. Nurses’ Union said it “strongly encourages” nurses and other health-care workers to be vaccinated against all communicable diseases, but believes that should be done voluntarily.
Union CEO Cody Hedman said vaccination provides an important layer of protection, but the union believes “that education is the most appropriate means of achieving high vaccination rates for nurses, other health-care workers and the general public.”
Mike Old, of the Hospital Employees’ Union, agreed COVID-19 vaccines have been crucial in prevention of infection and serious illness in seniors facilities and has encouraged its members to get vaccinated. But he said the union believes that “education and access” is the key to improving uptake and preferable to a mandatory vaccination policy. “That has also been the position of our provincial government and public health officials until today.”
The Hospital Employees’ Union said while many health-care workers support the order, it will be controversial and the union is concerned “that this policy change has the potential to compound a serious staffing crisis that is undermining care and putting workers’ health and welfare at risk.
“In a recent poll we conducted of our members, 24 per cent said they were likely to leave health care over the next two years as a result of their experiences during the pandemic.”
B.C. seniors advocate Isobel Mackenzie said the vast majority of health-care workers in long-term care and assisted living are vaccinated — more than 80 per cent in most facilities — but some facilities have “significantly lower” vaccination rates. All workers in seniors homes have had an opportunity to be vaccinated, she said.
“This is a very important step forward,” said Mackenzie.
Henry said the province has received legal advice and has sought information from the privacy commissioner.
“We think we’re obviously on strong footing here,” said Dix, “but there is going to be a lot of work done over the next period with health care unions, with health-care employers across the system to make this effective and to make this work.”
Terry Lake, CEO of the B.C. Care Providers Association, said the association is pleased by the announcement. “Ensuring that everyone who works with seniors living in B.C.’s long-term care and assisted-living homes is vaccinated against COVID-19 is critical to the safety and well being of both residents and staff.”
“This order is particularly important as we face new variants of this pernicious virus which has affected seniors living in long-term care and assisted living so drastically,” said Lake. “We continue to ask both those working in the sector, and the public, to get vaccinated as soon as possible. If not for themselves, for their parents and grandparents.”
On Wednesday, the province announced 82.2 per cent or 3.8 million people age 12 and older in B.C. had received their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine, and 71.1 per cent or 3.2 million were fully vaccinated.
