The current vaccine policies at the Chatham-Kent Health Alliance (CKHA) and the Municipality of Chatham-Kent will remain the same, for now.
CKHA said its mandatory vaccine policy requiring its hospital staff and doctors to have two doses will continue for current staff and new hires. CKHA CEO Lori Marshall said she won't be making any changes at this stage.
The municipality said its current vaccine policy for staff will remain in place until March 31, 2022 and then will switch to provincial guidelines. The province plans to lift its mandatory vaccine passport program on Tuesday.
Chief Administrative Officer Don Shropshire said he expects a wide variety of reactions when the change takes place and giving staffers 30 days to get accustomed to it is enough time.
"Some folks are going to look at it with a sigh of relief and others are going to be nervous because there's going to be, in their minds, fewer protections. So, we figured continuing on until the end of March would be a reasonable balance to respect those differing opinions," said Shropshire.
Shropshire noted an evaluation will take place at the end of March to determine if the change can go ahead, but doesn't see a problem at the moment based on the numbers.
"As much as things are relaxing, this is still real and we're still making sure that we can maintain essential services. So, by the end of March hopefully, we'll continue to have a positive trend in terms of the number of cases decreasing and we'll be in a position where we can enjoy more relaxed protocols," Shropshire said.
He said 47 staffers are still under COVID-19 protocols, down from 117 a few months ago. They either have the virus, are isolating, or are working at home.
Shropshire added that municipal staff and customers will continue to follow COVID-19 protocols such as masking and physical distancing.
He also said proof of vaccination is still required at all local long-term care facilities including Riverview Gardens, which is owned by the municipality.
Chatham-Kent Medical Officer of Health Dr. David Colby also reminds the public that proof of vaccination remains in place for transit, such as buses, trains, and planes.
"Vaccine passports should certainly not be tossed at this time. They're still going to be needed at least for a while," said Colby.
Meanwhile, Dr. Colby says proof of vaccine requirements for indoor school sports will be rescinded on Tuesday to follow provincial rules. He also said the health unit in Lambton will follow suit by rescinding its school sports restrictions to allow schools in both areas to have a coordinated regional approach and standardized rules.
Colby noted the Bradley Centre mass vaccination clinic in Chatham has administered a total of 177,377 doses as of Wednesday. The clinic has now moved to the former YA Canada building at 730 Richmond Street, where it’s set to re-open on March 3, 2022.
Colby also expects a new vaccine called Novavax to be arriving in Chatham-Kent the week of March 20, 2022. He said Novavax is a more conventional vaccine which may put more people at ease who are worried about the makeup of the mRNA vaccines like Pfizer and Moderna.
CKHA reported 22 COVID-19 patients in the hospital on Thursday with five of them being treated primarily for the virus. There are zero COVID-19 patients in the ICU in Chatham.
