TORONTO – Time is up. Since today, staff in Ontario’s long-term care homes, if they want to continue working in these facilities, must be fully vaccinated. The original deadline set for workers in the sector among the most affected by Covid-19 has been postponed from November 12 to December 13, said LTC ministry spokeswoman Vanessa De Matteis, following the recommendation of the National Advisory Committee on Immunization. 

The latter indicated the “optimal” interval of eight weeks between the first and second dose of a Covid-19 mRNA vaccine.
According to data in the hands of the government of the province already a month ago, about 95% of the staff had received both vaccinations. This percentage, however, may not correspond to reality as many LTC had not yet made public their immunization rates.

The vaccination obligation for LTC staff was announced by the government after several months spent denying the need for this measure. With the increase in infections – slow a few months ago and now decidedly worrying due to the Omicron variant – protecting the residents of these structures is more important than ever. We should not forget the high price paid by the elderly of the LTC during the first two waves of the pandemic: 3,828 of them lost their lives due to the virus while the infections ran at the speed of light.

Currently there are 9 nursing homes in Ontario that record Covid outbreaks while infections are 18 among residents and 30 among staff members.

Meanwhile, a survey conducted by Leger nearly three-quarters of Canadians surveyed reject for-profit long-term care homes.
74% of those contacted said they would prefer to be cared for or have a loved one cared for in a non-profit long-term care home while 12% said they preferred for-profit care and 14% said they had no preference.

If we take into account, then, the political faith, among the voters of the Conservative Party the choice of a non-profit LTC drops to 62% while it finds the favors of 74% of liberal supporters and as many as 89% of NDP sympathizers. “Ontario residents have clearly expressed their sympathy for nonprofit homes,” Lisa Levin, CEO of AdvantAge Ontario representing more than 200 municipally owned nonprofit homes, who commissioned the survey, told CP24.

An Ontario study found that during the first wave of the pandemic in early to mid-2020, for-profit long-term care facilities had more coronavirus outbreaks among residents than nonprofit homes and recorded a higher number of deaths. “There is clearly a difference in non-profit homes have had a better track record, have higher staff levels and are accountable to their local communities. That’s why two out of three people prefer to rely on nursing homes that do not make money their reason for being.”