ontario to mandate vaccine reporting in health, school settings
vaccination reporting and testing, not vaccination, will now be mandatory in hospitals and other high-risk settings in the province.
aug 17 2021
5 minute read
file: dr. kieran moore.
meaghan balogh
/
postmedia
by: elizabeth payne
warning that ontario faces a “difficult fall and winter”, the province’s chief medical officer of health introduced a series of steps tuesday aimed at better protecting the province’s most vulnerable against the delta variant of covid-19.
those steps don’t go as far as many would like, though. vaccination reporting and testing, not vaccination, will now be mandatory in hospitals and other high-risk settings in the province. similar policies will be brought in for schools.
the province will require staff to report their vaccination status and complete an education session and regular testing if they are unvaccinated with no medical reason.
the new directive, announced by chief medical officer of health dr. kieran moore on tuesday, falls short of a mandatory vaccination policy called for many health leaders and organizations as the fourth wave of the pandemic gains pace in the province.
during a press conference, moore said he would welcome hospitals and other organizations that want to go further and make vaccination mandatory.
“should an organization choose to implement policies that go above and beyond (this) they will have the authority to do so.”
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still, the failure to mandate vaccinations, especially in healthcare, was immediately criticized.
“there is still no vaccine certificate plan being put in place by this government and that is absolutely wrong. i just want be very very clear, no unvaccinated person should be providing healthcare,” said ndp leader andrea horwath.
the province is taking other steps to protect the most vulnerable from the more transmissible delta variant, which is now dominant in ontario.
moore also announced that the province would begin offering third doses of covid-19 vaccines to long-term care residents and those living in high-risk retirement homes — the population that was the most vulnerable to the first wave of the covid-19 pandemic in the spring of 2020 and who were among the first to be vaccinated in early 2021.
evidence shows that the immune response of residents in long-term care “wanes significantly” compared to the general population beginning four months after two covid-19 vaccine doses. third doses will be offered to long-term care and high-risk retirement home residents beginning five months after their second dose.
third doses will also be offered to transplant recipients and others who are immune-compromise and likely no longer protected by earlier vaccines, something that has been done in other countries with high vaccination rates.
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“a third dose will help to provide individuals in these groups with an improved immune response,” the ministry of health said in a statement. those vaccines will be offered at a minimum of eight weeks after their second dose and given by care providers.
the province is also extending vaccine eligibility to all children who are turning 12 in 2021, something that has been widely called for by parents and others and is done in several other provinces. earlier, provincial officials said they could not do so, based on legal advice. mrna vaccines have been approved for those 12 and over. the change takes effect as of aug. 18.
covid-19 vaccines are not expected to be approved for children until some time this fall — leaving thousands of unvaccinated children vulnerable as school sets to resume in person in september.
also, ontario is pausing the lifting of any additional public restrictions and will remain in step 3 of the province’s reopening plan, maintaining capacity limits in businesses and other settings and requiring masks in public indoor settings.
“this is what we need to do to protect ontarians. we need to be proactive,” said moore.
more than 81 per cent of eligible ontario residents have received one vaccine dose, and fewer than 400,000 shots are needed for ontario to reach its next target of 75 per cent fully vaccinated, said moore.
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moore said he believes vaccination policies, even if they don’t mandate that everyone must be vaccinated, will increase immunization rates. that is crucial with delta, which now makes up the vast majority of infections in the province.
“immunization is the best decision to make but if you make the decision not to be immunized, we need an alternative which is testing.”
the policy was criticized by those who have called for mandatory vaccination.
dr. nathan stall, a toronto geriatrician who recently quit the province’s science advisory table to run as a provincial liberal candidate, called the policy “gutless”.
“testing is not a substitute for vaccination. we are in a fourth wave and this is too little, too late.”
moore said rapid testing will be given to unvaccinated workers, in health settings, schools and elsewhere up to three times a week or as seldom as once a week, depended on local case counts. he said, anecdotally, around 80 per cent of hospital staff are vaccinated — but rates among some workers are as low as 60 per cent.
“we can do better. i hope workers embrace this immunization policy as a nudge but if they don’t get immunized we need to have a testing strategy.”
the new directive mandates hospitals, home and community care services providers to have covid-19 vaccination policies for employees, staff, contractors, students and volunteers, and for ambulance services to have a covid-19 vaccination policy for paramedics.
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the policies must be in place by sept. 7 and “at a minimum,” require staff, contractors and volunteers to provide proof of full vaccination, a medical reason for not being vaccinated or completion of an educational session.
the policy is similar to those now in place in long-term care and requires organizations to report on implementation to the province.
children’s hospitals, including cheo, and child mental health organizations, suggested in a statement that they might go beyond the mandatory reporting requirement to mandatory vaccination.
“we anticipate additional measures will be required to support and protect our largely unimmunized populations,” the children’s health coalition said in a statement.
local hospitals welcomed the policy and are working together to have create a common approach, said geneviève picard of montfort hospital.
michael hurley, president of cupe’s ontario council of hospital unions, said the plan recognizes that there are severe staffing shortages across the health-care system. he also said he believes it will result in higher overall vaccination rates among workers in health care, except for an extremely small number who can’t be vaccinated for medical reasons.
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hurley noted that texas methodist hospital in the u.s. lost almost five per cent of its staff when it imposed mandatory vaccination.
“in health care with labour shortages that is a wise policy because there are shortages everywhere. it does safeguard the public interest and it would ensure that people who were positive would not be working.”
it is not clear whether education workers who be subject to the same directive or how often unvaccinated workers would be required to undergo rapid testing.
hurley said preventing outbreaks has to be part of a comprehensive strategy that includes other protective health measures.
sharlene hunter, spokesperson for the ottawa catholic school board, called tuesday’s announcement: “another step to minimize community spread”.
with files from the canadian press
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