The Premier's Office recently requested input from multiple stakeholders on making vaccinations mandatory in hospitals with a province-wide strategy.
AFHTO agrees this is critical in lowering the risk to employees' and patients' health from outbreaks, and it helps to address risks to staffing shortages due to illnesses that can be significant and unpredictable. While there will be one-time challenges with mandatory vaccines, the benefits of doing this outweigh the concerns. The risks posed by a vaccine mandate are more predicable, easier to prepare for, and less likely to impact patient care.
It is also critical that this mandate be extended to primary care and all other community healthcare providers.
In collaboration with the Alliance for Healthier Communities, the Nurse Practitioner-Led Clinic Association, and the Indigenous Primary Health Care Council, we submitted our response to the premier's questions on October 19, 2021.
Our joint response can be read here