TORONTO – Vaccination mandate for all health workers. This is the answer that the Science Advisory Table of Ontario gave to Prime Minister Ford calling the imposition necessary as “it is proven to protect the residents of Ontario”. 

Last week Doug Ford wrote to various experts and stakeholders asking for their views on the possible introduction of mandatory vaccines, a measure that would not allow non-immunized health workers to remain in the workplace by undergoing regular tests. And the doctors expressed themselves in favor because, they say, “taxation can improve safety and reduce the risk of staff shortages due to Covid-19”. “Covid-19 vaccines help protect people working in Ontario hospitals, as well as unvaccinated and vulnerable patients most at risk of SARS-CoV-2 infections and complications from Covid-19 – say specialists – the demand that hospital workers be vaccinated originates from evidence that the residents of Ontario are protected”.

It is an answer, this one of the experts consulted by the government, that Ford has certainly not welcomed with a smile on his lips. After all, so far it has been very reluctant to impose policies of this kind. Vaccination for long-term care workers came this month after several hesitations, just because data suggested that a number of homes had vaccination rates below 70%.

That this vaccination was the way to get out of this long pandemic had already been pointed out by the Ontario Medical Association that in July – three months ago – had asked for mandatory vaccinations for health workers but the Ford government had turned a deaf ear by introducing the obligation only for many non-essential activities.

In his letter to the Science Table, Ford had pointed out that he believed that in Ontario about 15% of workers in health care are not vaccinated and suggested that a mandate, similar to the one introduced in Quebec and British Columbia, could force hospitals to put thousands of workers on unpaid leave at a time when they are in trouble due to Covid.

The members of the Science Table were not of the same opinion: the probability that unvaccinated workers contract Covid-19 and are forced to be absent for a long time could have a greater impact on human resources, reiterated the doctors consulted by the premier, adding that “research suggests that only a small number of employees will leave their jobs to avoid vaccination”.

“Mandatory vaccines for healthcare professionals is nothing new. Flu vaccines, which are indispensable for healthcare professionals in high-risk settings, such as hospitals and long-term care homes, have been in place in Canada and the United States for more than two decades,” the scientific committee’s report reads.

There are many hospitals in the province that have adopted their own vaccination policies. Among these are those belonging to the University Health Network of Toronto, which after imposing full vaccination on their staff, are now planning to also ask visitors, starting tomorrow, for proof that they have received the two doses of vaccine.