On Monday, Sept. 14, provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry announced that all health workers in B.C. must be vaccinated by Oct. 26.
“This includes all people, all workers, students, physicians, residents, contractors and volunteers who work in a healthcare facility including contracted facilities, which are accessible to patients and where they receive services,” Henry said.
More than 86 per cent of eligible British Columbians – those over the age of 12 – have at least one shot, but a small group of vocal opponents have been refusing to be vaccinated.
In combination with the highly infectious Delta variant, this has led to a “pandemic of the unvaccinated,” with the most recent provincial statistics showing that 69.2 per cent of those testing positive for COVID in the first full week of September were not vaccinated, and another 8.6 per cent were partially vaccinated.
Among those hospitalized, 81 per cent had not been vaccinated and 5.2 per cent were partially vaccinated.
Do you think the requirement to vaccinate all health workers is a reasonable one given the need to protect vulnerable and ill people in hospitals, or do you believe it violates freedom of choice?