TORONTO – The province has changed course on mandating vaccinations for seniors’ care workers in long-term care settings.
Long-term care minister Rod Phillips announced on Oct. 1 that COVID-19 vaccinations will become mandatory for in-home staff, support workers, students and volunteers as of Nov. 15.
“Vaccination rates of staff in many homes are not high enough in the face of the risk posed by the Delta variant, and this is putting vulnerable residents at risk,” a press release stated.
The ministry previously boasted that 92 per cent of long-term care staff were at least partially vaccinated across the province with at least 84% fully vaccinated.
According to recent Ministry of Long-Term Care (MLTC) data, as of Aug. 31, around 44 per cent of long-term care facilities were reporting staff vaccination rates below 90%.
As of Nov. 15, proof of full vaccination (two doses plus 14 days) or proof of medical exemption will have to be shown.
Previously, the province only mandated long-term care settings to have their own staff vaccination policies meeting provincial minimums.
Some seniors’ care providers went above and beyond government minimums, implementing polices requiring staff to become fully vaccinated by a certain date or be placed on leave with a risk of losing their jobs.
Locally, the Wellington Terrace in Aboyne (county employees) and Caressant Care facilities in Harriston, Arthur And Fergus, have already mandates vaccinations for staff.
The new provincial rules state if proof of vaccination cannot be shown by the deadline, staff will not be able to enter a long-term care home for work.
Newly hired staff are also required to be fully vaccinated before they begin working in a long-term care home.
Random testing of staff, caregivers and visitors will also begin, “to help detect possible breakthrough cases,” according to the Oct. 1 release, and the ministry will be “redirecting provincial resources” to audit testing.
“The ministry will leverage provincial testing resources to inspect and audit these results by sending testing teams into homes to validate the results that homes have been reporting to the province,” the release stated, adding inspections of infection and prevention control measures will also be increased.
Visitors and essential caregivers at long-term care settings will need to continue screening, masking and staying distant from others but are not impacted by the vaccine mandate, MLTC spokesperson Mark Nesbitt confirmed in an email.
All unvaccinated visitors and caregivers will still need to undergo testing before entering a home.
It’s unknown what implications the government’s requirement will have for staffing levels at Wellington County long-term care homes, but the province has provided funding to homes for hiring temporary staff and has also arranged “Secure Mobile Enhancement and Support Teams” to aid homes with critical staffing shortages.
According to publicly available data, as of Aug. 31, Morriston Park Nursing Home in Puslinch was the only location in Wellington County with 100% of its staff fully vaccinated.
At Strathcona Long-Term Care in Mount Forest, 18% of staff are unvaccinated, leading the way in the county for the most unvaccinated staff.
Caressant Care’s Harriston location comes in a close second with 17% of staff without a single dose.
