Ontario long-term care homes call for mandatory vaccines for all health-care workers

A home-care worker is shown outside Orchard Villa long-term care home in Pickering, Ont., on Tuesday, May 26, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn

TORONTO -

Ontario long-term care homes are asking the province to mandate COVID-19 vaccination for their staff as well as health-care workers in all settings.

The Ontario Long-Term Care Association says making vaccines mandatory provincewide would both protect residents and ensure facilities don't lose their staff to other health-care facilities.

The province requires staff in long-term care homes to disclose their COVID-19 vaccination status, and those who are unvaccinated for non-medical reasons have to undergo education about the importance of immunization.

But Premier Doug Ford has refused to mandate vaccines in any setting.

He has spoken in support of a Toronto hospital network's policy that unvaccinated staff -- and those won't disclose their vaccination status -- have to take a COVID-19 test before coming to work.

The long-term care association's call to make vaccines mandatory for health workers echoes recommendations from the Ontario Medical Association and the Registered Nurses' Association of Ontario.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 10, 2021.