Those who provide care to loved ones in Manitoba care homes will soon need to be fully vaccinated in order to continue doing so.
Starting Nov. 15, designated family caregivers will need to show proof of vaccination prior to entry.
“We’re very, very pleased that we’re moving forward with this next step,” said Jan Legeros, the executive director of the Long Term and Continuing Care Association of Manitoba.
“We’ve been having lots of conversations about it and it is the remaining gap in the system.”
Currently, staff at personal care homes have to either be fully vaccinated or tested regularly.
Shared Health is not giving designated family caregivers the option to be tested, either.
Legeros said it would become too complicated to keep track of everyone’s results.
“The workers come to our residence and they’re tested there and we have the results, but folks from the outside, it would be impossible to monitor that,” Legeros said.
A Shared Health spokesperson said any designated caregiver who is not fully vaccinated, or refuses to disclose their vaccination status, will still be able to visit with a resident.
“However, they will be required to follow guidelines in place for unvaccinated general visitors to do so. This includes making an appointment to visit residents in a visitation shelter and/or a designation visitation room,” the spokesperson said.
Connie Newman, executive director of the Manitoba Association of Senior Centres, said she was surprised this mandate wasn’t already in place.
She’s a frequent visitor at three different care homes and a designated caregiver at two of them.
“People in long term-care are there because they are medically fragile,” Newman said. “It needed to happen to ensure that all our older population living in care are protected.”
Some areas with low vaccination rates and staffing issues may face some challenges due to the new rules, according to Legeros.
However, she said, many care homes already have similar policies in place, and for the most part, caregivers and care home owners are understanding and supportive of them.
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