Unvaccinated healthcare workers stand their ground - Government backs down

In today’s climate where vaccine mandates are forcing employees from their jobs, a small group of healthcare workers in Quebec and Ontario, two of Canada’s largest provinces have helped turn the tide.  After pushing back the deadline twice, the government of Quebec has given up on mandating COVID vaccinations for its healthcare workers. This comes after 17,140 healthcare workers across the province still remain unvaccinated just before the deadline. This amounts to only about 3% of the province’s healthcare workforce, but it was enough to stop the policy from being implemented. In a face-saving statement Premier Dubé said "We now think that the balance between trying to fight, again, the ones who don't want to be vaccinated and putting them at home will create a loss of power for health care.” Instead of trying to understand the concerns of those who work in healthcare and still don’t want the new COVID vaccines, the premier said “it's still baffling that healthcare workers don't want to get vaccinated." As if he was unaware that reports of serious adverse reactions, including death, totaling more for the COVID vaccines than from all vaccines administered over the last 31 years combined in the U.S.  In neighboring Ontario, a similar drama has been unfolding. Just last week, Premier Ford announced that his government will also not impose a vaccine mandate for its healthcare workers. Just as in Quebec, Ontario can’t afford to lose the staff. Health Minister Christine Elliott said that pursuing a mandate would lead to “significant” job losses in the healthcare sector, and cited the difficulties experienced in British Colombia. B.C. imposed a vaccine mandate at the end of October, at which point over 4000 healthcare workers were put on unpaid leave, Minister Elliott said that resulted in the cancelation of surgeries and diagnostic procedures at did not want that to happen in Ontario.     While these policy changes are a clear victory to those who oppose vaccine mandates, it also demonstrates the power of a relatively small group to make a significant shift in actual policy on the ground. While the battle of mandating COVID vaccinations in the healthcare sector is over, both provinces will be making life difficult for those unvaccinated workers by requiring them to be tested regularly. This is despite the mounting evidence that the vaccinated can spread COVID just as easily as the unvaccinated, and that the vaccine’s effectiveness in preventing infection drops dramatically after a few short months.    En español aquí