Alberta Health Services (AHS) announced it’s rescinding its mandatory vaccination policy and COVID-19 testing protocols for its staff effective 4 p.m. March 10..AHS originally introduced its mandatory vaccine policy for its 108,000 staff in October of 2021 and soon after gave workers an extended deadline of November 30 to accommodate and encourage employees who were slow to accept the new working conditions extra time to comply..At the direction of Jason Copping, the minister of health, AHS will amend the organization’s Immunization of Workers for COVID-19 Policy. Alberta’s public health sector staff vaccination policy now aligns with other provinces’ policies such as Manitoba and Quebec in lifting vaccination or testing mandates..According to AHS, 97.7% of Alberta Health Services’ staff is fully vaccinated. Its physicians account for 99.8% of the total count. AHS staff who declined the vaccination were placed on unpaid leave of absence late 2021..“This means that AHS sites have strong vaccine protection in place for staff and the patients they care for,” the press release said..“AHS’ immunization policy was implemented to protect patients, workers and the public earlier in the pandemic. However, we are now in a different stage of our response and the overwhelming majority of our healthcare workforce understands the importance of getting vaccinated. We need to make sure every healthcare worker who’s available to work, can, which is why we are lifting this mandate,” said Copping..Current workers — as defined by the the policy — who remain unvaccinated and on a leave of absence will be able to return to their jobs after the new policy takes effect Thursday. Their return to the workplace will be ironed out between the employees and their workplace managers..“AHS will continue to assess staffing and work with those who choose not to get immunized to address their concerns, answer their questions and educate them about the importance of immunization and vaccine safety and effectiveness,” the statement read in closing..Amanda Brown is a reporter at the Western Standard
Alberta Health Services (AHS) announced it’s rescinding its mandatory vaccination policy and COVID-19 testing protocols for its staff effective 4 p.m. March 10..AHS originally introduced its mandatory vaccine policy for its 108,000 staff in October of 2021 and soon after gave workers an extended deadline of November 30 to accommodate and encourage employees who were slow to accept the new working conditions extra time to comply..At the direction of Jason Copping, the minister of health, AHS will amend the organization’s Immunization of Workers for COVID-19 Policy. Alberta’s public health sector staff vaccination policy now aligns with other provinces’ policies such as Manitoba and Quebec in lifting vaccination or testing mandates..According to AHS, 97.7% of Alberta Health Services’ staff is fully vaccinated. Its physicians account for 99.8% of the total count. AHS staff who declined the vaccination were placed on unpaid leave of absence late 2021..“This means that AHS sites have strong vaccine protection in place for staff and the patients they care for,” the press release said..“AHS’ immunization policy was implemented to protect patients, workers and the public earlier in the pandemic. However, we are now in a different stage of our response and the overwhelming majority of our healthcare workforce understands the importance of getting vaccinated. We need to make sure every healthcare worker who’s available to work, can, which is why we are lifting this mandate,” said Copping..Current workers — as defined by the the policy — who remain unvaccinated and on a leave of absence will be able to return to their jobs after the new policy takes effect Thursday. Their return to the workplace will be ironed out between the employees and their workplace managers..“AHS will continue to assess staffing and work with those who choose not to get immunized to address their concerns, answer their questions and educate them about the importance of immunization and vaccine safety and effectiveness,” the statement read in closing..Amanda Brown is a reporter at the Western Standard
