Long-term care workers in Ontario must have first vaccine dose to go to work today

by Kaitlin Hartley

Today marks the day that every long-term care worker in Ontario must have their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine in order to attend work.

If a staff member goes into a long-term care home unvaccinated and without proof of vaccination, they will be required to show a medical exemption to avoid possible termination.

The date for long-term care staff to be fully vaccinated was originally planned for today but has since been pushed back to Dec. 13th by the Ministry of Long-term Care. The ministry says that the change of date was due to the National Advisory Committee on Immunization’s new guidance on vaccine dose intervals.

Long-Term Care Minister Rod Phillips announced that vaccination against the COVID-19 virus would be mandatory for long-term care workers in Ontario last month, and 98% of staff have rolled up their sleeves to receive their first shot, 95% are fully vaccinated, according to government data,

According to a new survey by the Angus Reid Institute, most Canadians support the termination of unvaccinated workers in various work districts.

Nearly 70 percent of poll participants said that airline employees, emergency responders, and school teachers should lose their job based on their vaccination status. In Ontario, 71 percent believe that medical professionals should be terminated if they are unvaccinated, and 65 percent of Canadians feel that unvaccinated restaurant employees are in support of their termination.

While most Canadians are in favour of doctors and teachers being terminated, just over 50 percent are in favour of employees of small businesses and construction workers being fired due to being unvaccinated.

GO transit had to cancel trains due to staffing shortages today. This is a direct result from the mandatory vaccination policy that the Minister of Transportation had implemented for Nov. 1st, and two to three percent of employees of Metrolinx have since been laid off.

With long-term care homes being hit the worst during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ford government’s mandate will remain in effect for long-term care staff, with only 2% still unvaccinated.