'This is a failure on the part of public health, on the part of the community'
Only 47.3 per cent of eligible Ontarians have received their third COVID jab, reports CBC. Public Health Ontario figures show that this low number is in contrast to the first booster shot (or second dose) which 81 per cent of eligible Ontarians have received.
Slower vaccine rates are a potentially worrying trend, and questions are being asked about why exactly there has been such a low third dose uptake. Some are pointing fingers towards public health officials who are being accused of failing to stress the importance of third doses.
“I think that as public health, we dropped the ball on this one,” said Dr. Doug Manuel, senior scientist at The Ottawa Hospital, to CBC. “I'm concerned that we didn't communicate this well.”
“This is sad because this is a failure on the part of public health, on the part of the community,” said Dr. Robert Cushman, medical officer of health, Renfrew County to CBC. He added that lifting restrictions and removing the vaccine passport “has sort of aided and abetted … poor compliance, low enthusiasm for getting a third shot and that's really too bad."
So what could this mean for employers and safety officers?
This really depends on the employer and whether they have a vaccine mandate in place (or what kind of mandate they currently have in place). Though the province is set to loosen restrictions around mask wearing and vaccine mandates, employers are still within their right to mandate a vaccine.
For those eliminating mandates, this may have little to no impact. Nevertheless, low vaccine numbers in combination with lighter public health measures could lead to another COVID spike. If this is the case, employers may have to reimplement control measures on staff further down the line.
For those employers wishing to keep a mandate in place, this could be a problem if they are requiring workers to get their third shot. Employers and safety professionals may need to switch up their strategy and improve communication with employees to improve engagement and encourage those who have yet to get their third shot to get one.
