Watered down vaccine mandate for healthcare workers in private practice
I previously posted on the blog about the new vaccine mandate for all regulated healthcare workers in private practice in BC. You can read that February 10th post here.
The details of the new PHO order had not yet been announced at the time of my February 10th post, but the PHO announcement suggested that healthcare workers needed to be vaccinated with at least one dose by March 24, 2022.
On March 7, 2022, the actual order was released by the PHO. You can read the full Order here.
The order does not actually prohibit regulated healthcare professionals from working in BC if they are not vaccinated. Instead, it only requires the regulators (the health profession “Colleges”) to record the vaccination status of their registrants by March 31, 2022. This will be achieved with the benefit of information sharing between the Colleges and the Ministry of Health.
It remains to be seen whether and when any restrictions will be imposed on regulated health professionals in private practice who are not vaccinated.
We will continue to monitor this issue and post further on the blog.
Have questions about vaccinations in the workplace? Contact Scott Marcinkow at smarcinkow@harpergrey.com or anyone else from our team listed on the Authors page.