A COVID-19 vaccine
© Frank GunnA COVID-19 vaccine
The Canadian Medical Association (CMA) says it is "disappointed" that the Quebec and Ontario provincial governments have decided not to require mandatory COVID-19 vaccinations for health care workers.

In a press release on Thursday, CMA president Dr. Katharine Smart, said the organization joined the Canadian Nurses Association (CNA) to call for mandatory vaccines for health-care workers who "have a duty of care towards patients and the public."

Smart said the CMA understands that the governments have not made the decisions "lightly" and have a "dual responsibility for the safety and security of the health system."

"On one hand, there is a collective responsibility to protect those in our care and the public from COVID-19," the statement reads. "On the other hand, the health system has been neglected for so long that the health, wellness and supply of health workers are at critically low levels."

Smart said governments are "therefore unable" to implement measures like mandatory vaccines for health workers "without the risk that the supply of these workers will be further diminished."

"When governments are unable to adopt every health measure necessary to protect their populations during a pandemic because it will mean that current staffing shortages will worsen, it's a mark of ongoing system failure," Smart said in the release.

Smart said discussions of a fifth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic are "already underway," adding that "we need to bring solutions to this crisis now."

CNA president Tim Guest echoed Smart's remarks, saying the association was "disappointed" by Wednesday's news.

"We believe that nurses and all health workers have an ethical responsibility to get vaccinated against COVID-19 to protect their vulnerable patients and of course each other," he said in a statement emailed to CTVNews.ca. "And we know that nurses, doctors and others expect their colleagues to do the right thing and be vaccinated for our collective safety.

Guest said the CNA hopes individual employers will "continue to support and encourage those who are hesitant to get the information needed to get vaccinated."

The statements from CMA and CNA come just a day after the Quebec provincial government announced it would be dropping its previously announced vaccine requirement for health workers.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford also announced Wednesday that his province would follow suit.

"Implementing a province-wide vaccine mandate for hospital workers can negatively impact the care patients receive," he said in a statement, adding that enforcing a mandate could exacerbate a labour shortage.

In an email in French to CTVNews.ca, the Quebec Ministry of Health and Social Services said the provincial government made the decision to change its course following recommendations from public health and an in-depth analysis of the consequences of compulsory vaccination on the province's capacity to provide care and services to the population.

The ministry said around 14,000 workers remain unvaccinated. Of that number, over 8,000 are working in the field have not yet received their shot. The ministry said this includes 5,550 who are in direct contact with patients.

"Despite the efforts of all the establishments in the network to make up for the shortage of personnel, service disruptions and anticipated reductions in activities are numerous and would affect several key sectors, in particular emergencies," the email reads in French.

Instead of mandating COVID-19 vaccines, the ministry said, unvaccinated staff will undergo screening at least three times a week and infection control and prevention measures will be applied.

It also said where possible, unvaccinated staff will be reassigned to areas with less vulnerable clients, and said anyone exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms will not be permitted into a care setting

CTVNews.ca reached out to the Ontario Ministry of Health for additional comment, but did not immediately hear back.

'THIS IS ABOUT PATIENT SAFETY'

Anthony Dale, president and CEO of the Ontario Health Association, said Ontario does need to put "every single hospital under the umbrella of a mandatory policy that's created by the province," adding that it has the "highest power [and] the most strength under the law."

Dale said some hospitals across the province have decided to implement mandatory COVID-19 vaccines for their employees.

"All I'm saying is their experience shows a great deal of promise and it shows that we can do this while minimally affecting the operation of the health care system," he told CTV News.

Dale said ultimately, "this is not only about people and human resources -- this is about patient safety."

Dale said implementing a province-wide vaccine mandate for health workers is the "best way to keep patients safe."

"This is the best way to keep the vast majority of health-care workers who are vaccinated - to keep them safe and their colleagues safe," he said. "We're actually confused about how the government could not implement this policy here in Ontario."

Dr. Kate Mulligan, a professor of social and behavioural health sciences at the University of Toronto's Dalla Lana School of Public, called the announcements "disappointing."

"It really goes against the science and what evidence we do have about how to protect people who are the most vulnerable -- medically vulnerable to this virus," Mulligan told CTVNews.ca on Thursday.

Mulligan said a province-wide mandate would make it "a lot easier" for employers to justify their decisions to implement mandatory vaccines.

"It also helps protect us all at a provincial level," Mulligan explained. "If there are a small number of hospitals that aren't enforcing [vaccines] then they're introducing risk unnecessarily to the rest of the system. And we might see health human resources people moving from one area to another -- it's just a risk that seems to me to be completely unnecessary."

-With a file from Reuters