At least 92 per cent of Alberta healthcare workers vaccinated, 61 employees quit
While the vast majority of Alberta Health Services employees have complied with vaccination rules – 61 out of more than 100,000 decided they’d rather quit than get vaccinated against COVID-19.
Of the 61 that resigned, 31 were in “clinical roles” and 11 are registered nurses.
Thousands more employees – about seven per cent – had not yet submitted proof of vaccination paperwork, president and CEO of AHS Dr. Verna Yiu announced Tuesday
Yiu said 92 per cent of all AHS workers had submitted proof of vaccination, while about 1,200 had claimed a medical or religious exemption.
“Overall this tells us there is very broad support for the mandatory vaccine policy…we stand by the policy, and it will be fully implemented,” Yiu said.
Yiu said some of the 1,200 will be accommodated with exemptions and those who don’t have an exemption granted are still being encouraged to get vaccinated and provide proof.
“Those employees who are not fully immunized in compliance with the policy will be placed on an unpaid leave of absence,” Yiu said.
“With such low numbers we don't anticipate the policy of having any significant impact on our ability to provide care to Albertans.”
Yiu called vaccines “our most effective tool” in reducing transmission of the virus.
AHS announced it’s mandatory vaccination policy Aug. 31, and employees have until Oct. 31 to comply.
On Thursday, an AHS spokesperson clarified that Yiu was referring to part-time and full-time staff only.
“We do not include casual staff in our numbers because we will not be calling on unimmunized casual staff for shifts after the mandatory immunization policy deadline,” Kerry Williamson clarified in an email.
Vaccinations of casual staff stood at about 74 per cent, he said.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'They needed people inside Air Canada:' Police announce arrests in Pearson gold heist
Police say one former and one current employee of Air Canada are among the nine suspects that are facing charges in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year.
Why drivers in Eastern Canada could see big gas price spikes, and other Canadians won't
Drivers in Eastern Canada face a big increase in gas prices because of various factors, especially the higher cost of the summer blend, industry analysts say.
Customers disappointed after email listing $60K Tim Hortons prize sent in error
Several Tim Horton’s customers are feeling great disappointment after being told by the company that an email stating they won a boat worth nearly $60,000 was sent in error.
Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter banned from NBA
Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter has been handed a lifetime ban from The National Basketball Association (NBA) following an investigation which found he disclosed confidential information to sports bettors, the league says.
House admonishes ArriveCan contractor in rare parliamentary show of power
MPs enacted an extraordinary, rarely used parliamentary power on Wednesday, summonsing an ArriveCan contractor to appear before the House of Commons where he was admonished publicly and forced to provide answers to the questions MPs said he'd previously evaded.
Woman who pressured boyfriend to kill his ex in 2000s granted absences from prison
A woman who pressured her boyfriend into killing his teenage ex more than a decade ago will be allowed to leave prison for weeks at a time.
Attempt to have murder charge quashed against alleged serial killer dismissed by judge
A motion filed by the man accused of killing four Indigenous women in Winnipeg to have one of those murder charges quashed has been dismissed by the judge – weeks before the start of his trial.
Government proposes new policy for federally regulated employees to disconnect from work
In their 2024 budget, the federal government wants to amend the Canada Labour Code, so employers in federally regulated sectors will eliminate work-related communication with employees outside of scheduled hours. If implemented, this would affect roughly 500,000 employees across the country.
Earthquake jolts southern Japan
An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.4 hit southern Japan late on Wednesday, said the Japan Meteorological Agency, without issuing a tsunami warning.