The Minister of Health and Social Services, Christian Dubé, appeared before the press on Wednesday for an exercise to which he seems to have become accustomed: to give up another ultimatum issued to unvaccinated staff of the health network.
“We are moving from compulsory vaccination to compulsory screening,” said the minister, as if it were a question of adopting a new strategy. Mandatory screening existed long before vaccination was imposed on all employees of the health network, on pain of suspension without pay.
Twelve days before the expiration of his ultimatum of November 15, the minister gives up proceeding with these suspensions which would have presented the serious drawback of depriving the network of a workforce that is sorely lacking. Already, he had pushed back the deadline of October 15 that he had set for mid-September when he had stood up, relentless, by brandishing his first ultimatum.
Since this postponement, little progress has been observed. Some 14,000 network employees are still not fully immunized. Of this number, 8,000 work in establishments, including 5,000 nurses, patient attendants and other health professionals who are in direct contact with patients. Christian Dubé finds cause for celebration by pointing out that last August, 91% of employees had received at least one dose of vaccine, a percentage which now stands at 97%. The remaining 3% are irreducible. “We tried everything. It remains incomprehensible, ”lamented the minister. Indeed, we cannot ask everyone to have invented powder.
These 8,000 employees will be required to be tested for COVID-19 three times a week. In case of refusal, the employee will be suspended without pay. And there, it is true, assures the minister: one will not cut there. Half of the CIUSSS and CISSS have started cracking down on some recalcitrant, it was reported.
Before the ultimatums, 30,000 people had to be tested week after week. It is believed that with a reduced number of unvaccinated people, it will be possible to ensure effective and rigorous screening. With other preventive measures, the risk of infection for patients will be minimized, argued Dr.r Horacio Arruda.
Either way, the government has no choice. Depriving of 8,000 employees in the network, of which 5,000 are part of the nursing staff, would lead to service disruptions, the consequences of which would be more serious than the risks posed by the non-vaccinated in the network.
Alongside the minister during the press conference, Daniel Desharnais, the former chief of staff of Gaétan Barrette who became assistant deputy minister for health, delivered grim data on the scarcity of manpower. While the network would need 13 million hours worked every two weeks to provide services, it can only count on 10 million hours. The withdrawal of 3% or 4% of the nursing staff is impracticable. According to the wise calculations of the ministry, these absences would entail 500 reductions or “reorganizations” of services, according to the terms used by the minister, which means, for example, to close an emergency to redirect patients elsewhere, as is the case. in Senneterre, in Abitibi-Témiscamingue.
“Unfortunately, we cannot do without these people,” said Christian Dubé pitifully. Some will say that the minister should have thought about it first: why issue ultimatums when we are not in a position to impose the planned sanctions? In his defense, 15,000 network employees were vaccinated following what seemed like a sudden bluff.
Of course, the minister has lost face. And twice rather than once. Rolling the machinery and applying the sanctions might have enabled him to perform better in the short term, but in the medium term, the misplaced pride he would have draped himself in would have had negative consequences.
It should also be noted that the Caquista government is not the only one to abandon compulsory vaccination in the health network. After procrastinating for weeks, Premier Doug Ford has just announced that he is giving up recourse to this means which would have led to service disruptions in Ontario, applying the same approach as the CAQ government. Yet Ontario’s health care system is more robust than ours.
Obviously, to choose the lesser evil is often to look bad. One thing is certain, in the future, agreeing to be vaccinated in the event of a pandemic should be a condition of employment, even a professional requirement, for all healthcare staff.