Alberta Health Services is revoking its policy that requires employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19 as a condition of employment (Photo: LNN)

By Drew Stremick

AHS to revoke COVID-19 immunization as condition of employment

Jul 18, 2022 | 7:05 PM

EDMONTON, AB – Alberta Health Services (AHS) is repealing it’s “Immunization of Workers for COVID-19” policy, effective July 18, 2022. This means AHS healthcare workers will no longer be required to be vaccinated against COVID-19 as a condition of employment.

In an email release, AHS says the policy is being removed due to evidence that single and two-dose vaccines are offering less protection against news strains of COVID-19. The current vaccines available target the original strains of the virus, but since the development of Omicron and its variants, the protection against infection has decreased.

AHS says it first brought in the policy when Delta was the dominant strain of COVID-19, and immunization was highly effective in protecting the health and safety of workers, patients, and communities across Alberta.

Interim President and CEO of AHS, Mauro Chies says the decision to revoke the vaccination policy is based on new evidence in regards to how effective the vaccines are against new variants.

“The immunization policy was implemented to protect patients, healthcare workers and the public at a time during the pandemic when the immunization required by the policy was still effective in preventing transmission and when it was needed most to help contain the spread of COVID-19. This was the right policy at the time, and was based on the best evidence available to protect our staff and patients,” said Chies.

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“Policies and procedures have had to constantly evolve during the pandemic to reflect significant changes in the virus itself and the ever-changing evidence base as we continue to protect our people and patients.”

Chies continued by saying vaccination, including boosters, is still recommended to all AHS employees.

“We continue to recommend COVID-19 immunization, including all booster doses available, to all of our healthcare workers as part of our overall approach to protect patients and one another. The safety of our patients and healthcare workers is of the utmost importance to AHS,” said Chies.

As of July 13, 2022, Alberta had 552 people hospitalized due to COVID-19 with 16 patients in the ICU. To date, 4,632 Albertans have died throughout the pandemic.

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