If you’re a heath care worker in Alberta and you don’t have a COVID-19 vaccine, you better get one.
Alberta Health Services is mandating that all employees and contracted health care providers, and that includes doctors and other frontline healthcare workers, must be fully immunized for COVID-19, by October 31st of this year.
AHS President, Dr. Verna Yui says this is an “extraordinary, but necessary measure to help protect our vital frontline health care teams and help us maintain a safe environment for all patients and clients.”
Any health care worker in Alberta who refuses to get the double-dose of vaccine and has not been given an exemption will have their situation reviewed and it may result in an unpaid leave of absence to allow for full compliance.
Alberta is experiencing a spike in COVID delta variant cases with over a thousand new cases a day, on average for more than a week now.
This new policy will apply to all Alberta Health Services, Alberta Precision Labs, Carewest, CapitalCare and Covenant Health employees, members of the medical and midwifery staffs, students, and volunteers, and other persons acting on their behalf.
The move to mandate COVID vaccinations for health care providers follows the lead of some other provinces including Quebec and New Brunswick.
A new release sent out on Tuesday states any AHS employee who is unable to be immunized due to a medical reason or for another protected ground under the Alberta Human Rights Act will be reasonably accommodated.
Dr. Yui says vaccinations are the most effective means to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and to prevent outbreaks in AHS facilities.