B.C. provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry has ended the COVID-19 public health emergency in British Columbia and ended the COVID-19 vaccine mandate in health-care settings.
However, the province is making it mandatory for health-care workers to disclose their immunization status, including COVID-19, influenza and measles vaccines.
Collecting these records will allow health-care administrators to make staffing decisions in the event of an exposure, outbreak, or future pandemic.
Depending on the circumstances, these could include masking, modified duties, or exclusion from work.
The mandatory reporting requirement comes into effect on July 26, 2024, and applies to health-care workers in health authority-operated and contracted facilities and includes doctors, nurses, allied health professionals, volunteers and contractors.
Henry said last week in B.C. there were fewer than 200 people in hospitals with a positive COVID test.
“Since March 2020, we have been in a provincial public-health emergency to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic,” Henry said.
“While COVID-19 is not gone, we now have high levels of protection in the health-care system and in communities throughout B.C.”
The B.C. Nurses Union said in a statement that effective on Friday, nurses who were terminated because of their health authority’s application of this order will now be eligible to return to the health-care system.
The organization said these nurses will be a welcome addition to help alleviate staffing challenges.
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British Columbia was the last province with a COVID-19 vaccine mandate in the health-care system.
The BC United and the BC Conservatives parties have been calling for the mandate to be lifted.
The BC Conservatives continue to call for Henry to be fired over her handling of both the pandemic and the ongoing overdose crisis.
Recent wastewater testing data in B.C. does not appear to suggest a major resurgence in virus activity.
However, globally, new Omicron subvariants known as FLiRT variants are spreading and raising concerns.
In the U.S., COVID-19 cases are on the rise due to activity fuelled by summer travel.
“The past four years have been extraordinary, and I know they have had a tremendous impact on all of us, our families and communities,” Henry said.
“I remain immensely grateful to the people of B.C. who have risen to the occasion and did their best to support each other throughout these most-challenging times with kindness and compassion.”
Health-care workers must report their vaccination status for:
- Covid-19
- Influenza
Health-care workers must report whether they have been vaccinated or have previously contracted:
- Measles
- Mumps
- Rubella
- Hepatitis B
- Whooping cough (pertussis)
- Chicken Pox (Varicella)
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