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- Page navigation anchor for RE: Global deaths from COVID-19 have surpassed 3 million in mid of April, 2021.RE: Global deaths from COVID-19 have surpassed 3 million in mid of April, 2021.
Thank you for this enlightening and articulate commentary, which reflects our own thoughts and concerns (1). The current pandemic has posed an unprecedented challenge on many levels. Development of vaccines was eagerly awaited, and however, it soon became clear that to end the pandemic, we would have to address another ubiquitous problem: widespread vaccine hesitancy (2). The rollout of the COVID 19 vaccine is tiered to various subgroups of the population because of limited availability. The National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) has prioritized front line health care workers for vaccination. NACI’s ambition is clear; every vaccination brings us closer to a pre COVID normalcy.
The global death toll reached 1 million in September 2020 and 2 million in January. We lost 3 million lives by April 2021. Meanwhile, North America lost almost 800, 000 lives. Despite this grim milestone, getting the majority of health care workers vaccinated has gone slower than hoped. There have been admirable efforts to educate front line health care workers and others on the safety and efficacy of the vaccine; those efforts have been countered by widely circulated misinformation dominating in the social media.
We need concerted plans to continue to talking to front line staff to dispel misinformation and encourage them to change their minds while also showing them scientific data supporting the vaccine's safety and the efficacy. Some vaccine clinical trials showing...
Show MoreCompeting Interests: None declared.References
- Colleen M. Flood, Bryan Thomas, Kumanan Wilson. Mandatory vaccination for health care workers: an analysis of law and policy. CMAJ 2021;193:E217-E220.
- (2). Persad G, Emanuel EJ, Sangenito S, Glickman A, Phillips S, Largent EA. Public Perspectives on COVID-19 Vaccine Prioritization. JAMA Netw Open. 2021;4(4):e217943. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.7943
- (3). Thompson MG, Burgess JL, Naleway AL, et al. Interim Estimates of Vaccine Effectiveness of BNT162b2 and mRNA-1273 COVID-19 Vaccines in Preventing SARS-CoV-2 Infection Among Health Care Personnel, First Responders, and Other Essential and Frontline Wor
- (4). Doctors raise alarm over slow vaccine rollout-Physicians feel rollout taking too long, won't achieve herd immunity- https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/special/coronavirus/doctors-raise-vaccine-alarm-574233502.html
- Page navigation anchor for Re: Mandatory vaccination for physiciansRe: Mandatory vaccination for physicians
I enjoyed your article and agree with the sentiment that broad based government policy mandating vaccination is the best approach to requiring broad-based vaccination in hospitals in the province. I also support your assertion that the jurisprudence points to the fact that such a policy would likely survive a Charter inquiry. That being said, if mandatory vaccination policies end up only being enacted via institutions, I am curious how this approach would affect mandatory vaccination of physicians. Your analysis points to relevant labour law analysis if employees of the hospital are required to receive vaccinations, but how would institutions enforce these mandates for physicians who usually work as medical staff with privileges, essentially acting as independent contractors? Although the uptake of COVID19 vaccines for hospital-based physicians remains very high, I do wonder what would happen in the case of a physician who declines vaccination but still wishes to work in the hospital, and if there is case law that speaks to analogous scenarios in the past.
Competing Interests: None declared.References
- Colleen M. Flood, Bryan Thomas, Kumanan Wilson. Mandatory vaccination for health care workers: an analysis of law and policy. CMAJ 2021;193:E217-E220.