'Very broad support' for Alberta Health Services mandatory vaccine policy, president says
CBC
About 92 per cent of all staff at Alberta Health Services have submitted proof they have had two doses of COVID-19 vaccinations as required under a policy introduced in August.
Seven per cent of staff have yet to submit proof of vaccination, while less than one per cent — about 1,200 staffers — have requested accommodation on medical or religious grounds, AHS president and CEO Dr. Verna Yiu told a news conference Tuesday.
Yiu said 61 employees have resigned their positions specifically because of the vaccination policy. That includes 31 staffers in clinical roles; 11 of them are registered nurses.
"Overall this tells us that there is very broad support for the mandatory vaccine policy," Yiu said of the numbers.
She said AHS stands by the policy and reiterated that employees who aren't fully immunized without being granted an accommodation will be placed on an unpaid leave of absence.
"With such low numbers, we don't anticipate the policy of having any significant impact on our ability to provide care to Albertans."
AHS announced Aug. 31 it would require all employees and contracted health-care providers — including physicians — to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19. The deadline for complying is Oct. 31.
The policy applies to AHS, Alberta Precision Labs, Carewest, CapitalCare and Covenant Health workers, members of medical and midwifery staffs, students, volunteers and anyone acting on their behalf.
Dr. Deena Hinshaw, Alberta's chief medical officer of health, reported 531 new cases of COVID-19 at Tuesday's news conference.
Hinshaw said 8,030 tests were conducted with a positivity rate of 6.7 per cent.
Twelve new deaths were reported Tuesday.
There are 11,402 active cases of the disease in Alberta, which is down by more than 10,000 cases from the fourth wave peak on Sept. 27.
There are currently 964 patients in hospital with COVID-19, including 218 in intensive care units.
Here's how the active cases break down across the province:
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