Coronavirus: What's happening in Canada and around the world on Sunday – CBC.ca

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Canada’s health and long-term care sectors are bracing for staff shortages and layoffs as deadlines for vaccine mandates loom across the country, with unions pushing federal and provincial governments to soften hardline stances.

For hospitals and nursing homes, a shortage of workers would strain the already overburdened workforce dealing with nearly two years of the pandemic. The uncertainty sparked by vaccine mandates underscores the challenges on the road to recovery.

Devon Greyson, assistant professor of public health at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, said officials are steering into uncharted waters with mass vaccine mandates, and it’s not clear how workers will respond.

“A shortage of workers can mean people’s health and well-being. It’s scary,” Greyson said.

However, he said, “we’re in an ethical situation where it’s also scary not to ensure that all health workers are vaccinated. So it’s a bit of a catch-22.”

To tackle staff scarcity, at least one province is offering signing bonuses to nurses. Provinces including Quebec and B.C. have made it mandatory for health-care workers and nursing staff to be vaccinated to continue working in their respective fields.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also unveiled one of the strictest vaccine mandates in the world last week, saying unvaccinated federal employees will be sent on unpaid leave and making COVID-19 shots mandatory for air, train and ship passengers.

Layoffs have started to hit, with one hospital in southern Ontario last week letting go 57 employees, representing 2.5 per cent of staff, after its vaccine mandate came into effect. A long-term care home in Toronto put 36 per cent of its staff on unpaid leave after they refused to get vaccinated, CBC News reported.

British Columbia will place staff in its long-term care and assisted-living sector on unpaid administrative leave if they fail to get at least one shot by Monday.

Some 97 per cent of long-term care staff in Vancouver and the surrounding areas have at least one dose as of Oct. 6, the province said. But only 89 per cent of staff has at least one dose in northern B.C., although the data was still being updated.

The province recently changed the deadline, giving more time for people to receive their second vaccine dose. “It is because we know we have a very limited health-care resource,” Dr. Bonnie Henry, B.C.’s provincial health officer, said.

Quebec is offering $15,000 bonuses to help attract and retain about 4,300 full-time nurses. Some 25,000 health-care workers who are yet not fully vaccinated ahead of an Oct. 15 deadline risk suspension without pay, said Christian Dubé, the province’s health minister.

About 97 per cent of all staff in the University Health Network, which operates medical facilities in and around Toronto, has been vaccinated ahead of Oct. 22, with efforts underway to find backup for the remaining.

Daniel Lublin, a Toronto-based employment lawyer, called the mandates “very political” and based on the majority view that vaccines are good. “The fallout is that it’s another segment of the Canadian workforce that is going to be faced with job loss if they choose not to vaccinate.”

The Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC), which represents 215,000 federal workers, said while the union supports the government’s vaccination stance, its members who do not get inoculated should not be punished.

“Especially when remote work options are available that do not jeopardize the health and safety of co-workers and allow our members to continue to serve Canadians,” said PSAC national president Chris Aylward.

Treasury Board, which oversees the public administration, is engaged with PSAC and other labour representatives about the implementation of the mandate, a federal government source said.

Louis Hugo Francescutti, an emergency room physician in Edmonton, said he worked with several people who were continuing to refuse vaccination, even though it would cost them their jobs when the mandate takes effect on Oct. 31.

Alberta has one of the lowest vaccination rates in Canada, and its hospitals have been overwhelmed by the fourth wave.

“We’re so under the water right now that losing a couple of people who don’t want to get vaccinated — it’s going to be sad, [but] the impact will be minimal,” Francescutti said.

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What’s happening across Canada

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What’s happening around the world

As of Sunday, more than 237.7 million cases of COVID-19 had been reported worldwide, according to Johns Hopkins University’s coronavirus-tracking tool. The reported global death toll stood at more than 4.8 million.

In Europe, Italy reached the target of fully vaccinating 80 per cent of the population over the age of 12, according to official data, achieving a goal Rome had set as a safety cut-off point, government data showed on Sunday.

In Asia, Malaysian Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob says state borders will be reopened after a months-long ban in a move expected to rejuvenate tourism and the economy.

In the Americas, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the U.S. government’s top infectious diseases expert, says families can feel safe trick-or-treating outdoors this year for Halloween as COVID-19 cases in the country decline, especially for those who are vaccinated.

In Africa, Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari unveiled a record 16.4 trillion naira ($49.8 billion Cdn) budget for 2022, with a projected 25 per cent year-on-year rise in government spending as the economy struggles with the impact of the pandemic.

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