York Region weighs in on province making vaccines mandatory in long-term care homes

Still a number of institutions with multiple unvaccinated staff and “unacceptable” number of outbreaks, says medical officer of health

Yorkregion.com
June 1, 2021

The province of Ontario is requiring all long-term care homes to have COVID-19 immunization policies for staff.

As of July 1, all homes must begin monitoring staff immunization rates. Employees will be required to provide proof of vaccination. Those who can't provide a documented medical reason for not being vaccinated must participate in an educational program about the COVID-19 vaccines.

The news comes as York Region grapples with lower-than-anticipated vaccine rates among health care workers.

Over the past month, Dr. Karim Kurji, the region’s medical officer of health, has raised concerns about continuing outbreaks at long-term care and retirement homes due to workers who have not got their shots.

As of May 30, about 97 per cent of Ontario’s long-term care residents are fully immunized and more than 89 per cent of staff received at least their first dose, with approximately 66 per cent fully immunized.

In York Region, almost 94 per cent residents aged 80 and older have been vaccinated. More than 92 per cent of those aged 75 and older have also had at least one dose.

But Kurji said the number of health care workers in York Region institutions is not as high as he’d hoped.

In many long-term care homes, Kurji said, 30 per cent of staff have not received vaccines.

“We are still seeing outbreaks of long term care facilities and retirement homes simply because the workers there have refused to get vaccinated or haven’t availed themselves of vaccines that have been available, and we are using all sorts of strategies to bring vaccines to them and educational methods to encourage the uptake.”

Kurji said vaccination rates among staff improved in late May, but there are still a number of homes with multiple unvaccinated staff and currently an “unacceptable” number of outbreaks.

As of May 31, there were nine outbreaks in York Region institutional facilities -- three retirement homes, five long-term care homes and one community care setting.

Among the long-term and retirement home outbreaks, 89 staff and 15 residents have tested positive for COVID-19.

Among the worst hit are Chartwell Aurora, (its fifth outbreak since the pandemic began with 24 staff and zero residents sick with COVID); Woodbridge Vista Care (its fifth outbreak with 20 staff and two resident sick); and Union Villa (its sixth outbreak with 17 staff and 7 residents who have contracted the virus).

Each time there is an outbreak, residents must isolate again.

“It certainly is an issue that troubles us,” Kurji said. “We have, for example, one home where the infection was introduced by unvaccinated workers and we have four residents who had been fully vaccinated with Pfizer who have now developed the COVID-19 infection.”

He added the vaccines may not necessarily stop somebody from getting infected, but reduce the likelihood of serious disease, hospitalization and death.

“However, when you get people in an outbreak situation, then even when they are vaccinated, it is more likely that they would actually get infected.”

For this reason, he said, it’s important focus on reducing the number of unvaccinated staff.

“A lot of educational efforts are being made. A lot of peer pressure is being utilized, as well. And a lot of opportunities are being given to the health care workers to uptake vaccines. I think that these are yielding some results. We have to wait a bit further to see whether the uptake continues to increase.”

Some members of regional council, including Markham Regional Councillor Jack Heath and Vaughan Regional Councillor Gino Rosati, expressed concern about the vaccine hesitancy among health care workers and urged the medical officer of health to push for change.

“It’s somewhat hypocritical to be in long term care, working there and not getting vaccinated, when asking for the patients to get vaccinated,” Heath said.

Critics say the provincial announcement doesn’t go far enough and that vaccines should be mandatory across the entire health care sector, but Kurji said there are concerns with that approach.

“We have to be cognizant of any legal challenges that can arise … along the lines of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. … I think you will see increasing discussions about mandatory-ness of the COVID-19 vaccine as we get into the areas of vaccine hesitancy, and particularly for those populations that are caring for vulnerable people,” he said.