Dubey urged unions on mandatory vaccination

Vaccination of health care workers has been very slow, with the health minister sending a letter to the unions yesterday asking them to publicize the vaccine to their members in preparation for the November 15 deadline.

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In a letter received through our Investigation Office, Minister Christian Dubey agreed that the situation was stagnant less than three weeks before the mandatory vaccination deadline.

“It is clear that employee vaccinations have reached the plateau in recent weeks,” he wrote, recalling a recommendation from Public Health.

According to recent data from the National Institutes of Public Health in Quebec, only 24 health care workers received their first dose last Sunday.

Since the postponement of the October 13 vaccination deadline, the percentage of employees with adequate protection has increased from 93.4% to just 94% to 94.4%.

Of the approximately 14,000 employees who were not vaccinated, only a few hundred received their first dose.

“You are the first person who wants to avoid a reduction in services to protect patients. The solution is simple and you know it: staff must be vaccinated,” the minister wrote in a letter to unions and associations of Dubai network executives.

Risk of service disruption

In addition the minister postponed the mandatory vaccination two weeks ago to prevent failures in services in some hospitals and CHSLDs. Employees have until November 15 to receive their injections, otherwise they will be reassigned or suspended without pay.

A more postponement date, Prime Minister Franois Legalt said earlier this week.

In addition, the Quebec and Professional Orders found that workers and physicians were mistakenly identified as not being vaccinated.

Immunization employees

Some employees who are not vaccinated can still continue to work. People with COVID-19 for less than six months, or those with a medical condition that prevents the vaccine, are considered “adequately protected.”

It is the same for those who are infected and those who take only one dose.

“So I ask you to publicly and personally educate your members on vaccinations to reduce the reduction in services to citizens on November 15, 2021,” Minister Dubey concluded.

Number of employees vaccinated per day

Source: National Institute of Public Health of Quebec