Non-emergency surgery capacity at NRGH continues to be reduced as a result of need to staff critical care spaces, in part due to COVID-19 hospital admissions. (File Photo/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By NanaimoNewsNOW Staff

ROLLING UP SLEEVES

Number of unvaxxed Island healthcare workers drops as NRGH surgery capacity reduced

Nov 1, 2021 | 12:17 PM

NANAIMO — Around 200 previously unvaccinated healthcare workers within Island Health have rolled up their sleeves.

The province reported, as of Monday, Nov. 1, 480 workers (approximately two per cent) remain off the job for failing to be partially or fully vaccinated against COVID-19. It’s a decrease from numbers released a week prior which showed 678 unvaccinated workers.

Health minister Adrian Dix said no surgeries in Nanaimo were postponed to date as a result of less staff, however capacity at the hospital continues to be reduced.

“Non-urgent surgeries continue to be postponed this week with some resuming next week, Nov. 8. One to two operating rooms will continue to be reduced daily at the hospital to support the ongoing need for critical care.”

As of Oct. 31, 3,325, or 2.6 per cent, of B.C. healthcare workers are on unpaid leave for failing to meet the vaccination requirement for COVID-19. Nearly 96 per cent, or 122,059, healthcare industry workers reported full vaccination.

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The province counts all workers who have completed at least one shift in the last three months.

A further 2,064 people province-wide are considered partially vaccinated and remain on the job under additional accommodations. They are required to receive their second dose within 35 days of their first.

Dix added failure to receive a second dose after a three-month unpaid leave period could result in termination.

The clampdown comes in a bid to stem rising COVID-19 transmission in medical facilities across B.C., including long-term care homes.

Nanaimo’s Chartwell Malaspina Care Centre reported an outbreak on Sunday, Oct. 31 after two staff members and one resident tested positive.

Island Health is in the process of administering booster doses of vaccine to residents, with Dix saying 100 of the 117 facilities in the health authority having already completed their third shots.

The remainder would be done by the end of the week, Dix said.

Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said early detection of cases in care homes and assisted living facilities is proof of their monitoring system working.

“We are continuing to see small outbreaks, mostly small outbreaks…we have a very sensitive definition. As soon as we see a single case, we do increase testing and monitoring and what that does lead to is identifying many people who may have very very mild symptoms, or be asympomatic.”

Henry also pushed people to receive their seasonal influenza vaccine, with the province already detecting cases of it in B.C., after going last year without thanks in large part to increased public health measures.

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