Vaccine mandate 'not linked' to health worker shortage in BC, government says

The COVID-19 vaccine mandate for public health workers in British Columbia is not linked to staffing shortages, according to the provincial government.

About 2,500 employees were ultimately fired for refusing to comply with a health order mandating vaccination that was issued by Dr. Bonnie Henry in the fall of 2021.

Since then, as BC’s health system has struggled to overcome a staffing shortage, some have criticized the government’s decision to maintain the vaccine mandate when every other province in Canada has dropped it.

The leader of the opposition, BC United’s Kevin Falcon, told KelownaNow last month there is “no science” to support the mandate and accused the NDP of waging a “crusade against health care workers.”

He added: “At a time when our health care system is virtually in collapse, we need every worker we can possibly get to help out.”

John Rustad, the leader of the Conservative Party of BC, has also attacked the mandate, urging the government to cancel it and rehire terminated workers.

But in a major announcement last week detailing plans to boost staffing levels in BC’s health system, Minister of Health Adrian Dix did not mention bringing back unvaccinated workers.

Following the minister’s press conference, NowMedia asked the Ministry of Health whether it had plans to drop the mandate. The answer was a comprehensive no.

“In order to protect the province’s most vulnerable and the overall health care system, COVID-19 vaccination requirements for health care system workers continue to be in place,” a spokesperson for the ministry explained.

Unvaccinated workers can only be employed in the health system if they have obtained an exemption from the provincial health officer, the spokesperson said, adding that the mandate “will continue.”

“Across the province, about 2,500 employees were terminated due to non-compliance with the provincial health officer’s Hospital and Community COVID-19 Vaccination Status Information and Preventive Measures Order – this represents a very small percentage of the workforce.”

“The vaccine mandate is not linked to staffing shortages and is still strongly supported by health care workers,” the spokesperson added, stressing that BC does “very well in recruitment relative to others.”

Terri Perepolkin, however, does not agree.

She was fired from her job as a lab technologist at Vernon Jubilee Hospital in November 2021 due to the mandate.

Since then, she has formed United Health Care Workers of BC, an organization representing fired health care workers.

The group is attempting to win certification for a class action lawsuit against the government and Dr. Henry, who they accuse of “misfeasance” for issuing the mandate.

“What’s really tough is we have no idea how many people were actually fired,” she told NowMedia, adding that Minister Dix “continues to claim that the terminated health care workers were insignificant in number.”

She said many unvaccinated health care workers simply retired after the mandate was announced, and suggested that including them in the tally of fired employees could double it to 5,000.

“There have been staff shortages for years – and before COVID – but saying it’s OK [in relation to fired workers], I don’t really understand how they think they are able to do that,” she added.

Perepolkin said a “huge part” of the problem is that many health facilities do not have enough support workers – including the likes of cleaners – whose absence creates a “knock-on effect” throughout the entire system.

According to data obtained by a freedom of information request, there were 975 employees fired from Interior Health in 2021 and 2022 as a consequence of the vaccine mandate, the largest of any health authority in BC. The Ministry of Health has separately revealed that a large proportion of the fired workers were support staff.

A document published by Interior Health in February of this year, meanwhile, said vacancy rates at the health authority are more than double what they were before the pandemic.

The pre-COVID-19 vacancy rate was 5.1 per cent, while in February it was 13.7 per cent.

In a decision recently published by the Hospital Appeal Board concerning an unvaccinated doctor at Royal Inland Hospital, Interior Health agreed that the vaccine mandate made life harder at that “chronically understaffed” workplace.

“The Order, and the consequent inability of unvaccinated hospital staff to work, caused further staffing challenges,” the decision reads.

Perepolkin, who has had to sell her house and downsize as a consequence of losing her job, said she and her fellow members – some 165 of them – remain saddened by the state of health care in BC.

“I hope people understand that we care about patients so much,” she said.

“We’re sitting on the sidelines watching the health system crumble and we can’t do anything to help.”

The 42-year-old mom of two, who said the province was an “abusive employer,” explained that it has been “tough” for the fired workers, adding: “We didn’t just lose jobs. We lost our professions.”

She said those affected by the mandate largely had one of three options: move to the US, move to Alberta or abandon their profession.

One member, a registered care aide, now manages a Dollar Store, she said. Another – a respiratory therapist – works at Costco.

“We have members living in campers in the forest,” she added. “People living in their kid’s basement.

“People think we’re terrible people, but we were just waiting to see the COVID shots working. Very few of our members are opposed to vaccines – it’s really sad seeing the stuff people say about us.”

In a long statement sent to NowMedia, the Ministry of Health said that anyone who wishes to work in the BC health system needs only to get the latest COVID-19 vaccine designed to protect them from the newest variant of concern.

A spokesperson for the ministry said that serology studies have shown that most people aged between 30 and 60 – including health workers – have “hybrid immunity” against COVID-19 resulting from both vaccines and infections.

“This provides longer-lasting protection against serious illness and hospitalization from COVID-19,” the spokesperson said.

“Data also indicates that unvaccinated individuals face a higher risk of severe illness or hospitalization.”

The spokesperson added: “Vaccine mandates protect vulnerable populations, including older and immunocompromised patients in hospitals, residents in long-term care facilities, as well as health care workers and the overall health care system. It is critically important to maintain this layer of protection for all of them.

“As we continue into respiratory illness season, anything we can do to help keep people in BC protected from potential illness is a step we are proud to take.”

Separately, the ministry pointed to a $7.5 million funding arrangement designed to “stabilize” emergency care in parts of the BC Interior following dozens of unplanned closures due to staff shortages.

Speaking on Monday, Dr. Henry said almost 1.3 million updated COVID-19 vaccines have been administered this fall.

In the Interior, 212,000 have been administered, compared to 176,000 last year.

Dr. Henry also said that COVID-19 deaths, hospitalizations and positive test results have all been declining since October. There were 182 people in hospital with the disease last week.

"It looks much like the typical seasons we used to have prior to the pandemic, with peaks particularly of influenza and RSV, and with influenza we tend to see peaks after the holiday period in late December, early January," she explained.

"Now is the time when we can take preventive measures to try and stop that peak."