B.C. seniors' care staff must be vaccinated

British Columbia will now require all people working in long-term care and assisted living facilities to be vaccinated against COVID-19.

Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry says people living in such settings are at particular risk to COVID-19 and transmission from unvaccinated people has led to outbreaks.

Henry says the deadline for workers to get vaccinated is Oct. 12.

She says those staff who are not currently fully vaccinated will be required to wear masks at work until they get a dose.

The rules also apply to volunteers and personal care workers at the facilities.

Join Adrian Dix, Minister of Health, and Dr. Bonnie Henry, BC’s provincial health officer, for an update on BC’s COVID-19 response. https://t.co/MluUiuplVv

— BC Government News (@BCGovNews) August 12, 2021

The announcement comes as British Columbia's COVID-19 infection rate peaks to levels not seen since mid-May.

Henry says she knows the government is changing what it had previously planned in terms of vaccination, but the move will help seniors and elders have the quality of life that they deserve.

There are currently eight COVID-19 outbreaks in long-term care facilities in the province, including four in the Interior health authority, where the provincial health officer has tightened restrictions in the last two weeks.

The surge in cases in the central Okanagan has been attributed by health officials to the highly contagious Delta variant.