Massage therapy students at Lethbridge College have been notified they will not be allowed to complete their programs without being vaccinated for COVID-19, the Western Standard has learned..Jayme Velthuis is registered to start her second year of the massage therapy program at Lethbridge College, but on June 3 she received a notice that could change her future plans..The email states: “As you are in the healthcare field, please be reminded that Alberta Health Services strongly recommends you to be fully immunized, as outbreaks of disease may preclude non-immunized students from participating in practicum.”. Email from Lethbridge CollegeEmail from Lethbridge College .“It is mandatory that you have two COVID-19 vaccinations to attend practicum.”.For many of her own personal reasons, Velthuis does not want the COVID-19 vaccine but has complied with testing and masking during the last year in order to continue her studies..Throughout the fall and winter semesters while restrictions were in place, every Monday and Wednesday she spent $40–60 per rapid test and invested her time driving to and from the pharmacy to complete them..Velthuis has already completed a four-month practicum in the winter semester of her first year without having to show proof of vaccination..“I was able to go to all the buildings, all the old folks homes, they even stopped asking for rapid tests in the winter that I was expecting them to continue requiring,” she told the Western Standard..“The only place I couldn't go was the fire station, and that was no big deal.”.When Velthuis signed up for the program and started studying in fall of 2021, there was no mention of COVID-19 vaccine mandates..“When it first was mandatory, I was fighting it constantly. I emailed the director of health and wellness programs at the college, and she refused to answer me,” she said..“Then eventually it was announced that it's not mandatory anymore, which was lucky for me thankfully, so I wasn't kicked out of my program.”.Now preparing for the second year, Velthuis is nervous this restriction will not allow her to complete her education..“I'm so frustrated and just pissed off with how they keep twisting things and making up their own rules,” she said..“I'm stressed too, because I don't want to be kicked out of my program. I do love massaging, I do love learning about it. And with that hit [the email], I was like, what am I supposed to do?”.Lethbridge College defended it's mandate..“Second-year massage therapy students rotate through six to eight different sites within the community during the Work Integrated Learning, WIL, portion of their program,” said the college’s statement..“Some of these take place at Alberta Health Services, AHS, and AHS-affiliated sites and fall under the Immunization of Workers for COVID-19 policy while others are within industry, education, human services, and other domains.”.“Many of these private sites also have their own COVID vaccination policies that will not permit students to participate in WIL without being fully vaccinated.".“Because so many sites have these policies and others are expected to follow, WIL placements cannot be guaranteed without a student being fully vaccinated.”.The Western Standard surveyed 10 different massage therapy clinics in Lethbridge on June 21 and found only two of the 10 require COVID-19 vaccination proof from their practitioners..Additionally, the Southern Alberta Institute of Massage — a massage school in Lethbridge — told the Western Standard “that is their personal medical information they do not need to disclose to anyone,” when asked about if they require students vaccination status..Alisha Velthuis, Jayme's mother, said the mandate is frustrating..“Why even ask of vaccination at this point?,” she said.."I can't imagine where these practicums are going to be done. Why are requiring it? That doesn't make any sense.”.Though Lethbridge College has created parts of their practicums with AHS facilities, massage therapy businesses and practitioners are not regulated by AHS or the government..A move towards government regulation is being done by Transitional Council for the College of Massage Therapists of Alberta (TC-CMTA), according to the Natural Health Practitioners of Canada (NHPC)..The regulation proposal is supported by many industry bodies, including the NHPC, the Massage Therapy Association of Alberta, the Certified Registered Massage Therapists of Alberta and the Canadian massage and Manual Osteopathic Therapists Association. .COVID-19 restrictions were introduced by the provincial health minister in December 2020. The TC-CMTA and the three Alberta associations worked with the minister to demonstrate their willingness to cooperate by sharing and combining protocols for safe practice..Over the December holiday break, association decision-makers developed a superior safety protocol the government was willing to trust, and COVID-19 restrictions were not set by the government for massage therapy workers, according to the NHPC..In the Immunization of Workers for COVID-19 policy Lethbridge College provided in their statement, there is a vaccine exemption for students included..The exception states students who were in programs that were halted because of their vaccination status on or before November 30, 2021 do not have to comply with the mandate.. AHS worker immunization requirementsAHS Immunization of Workers for COVID-19 policy .Velthuis started her program in the fall of 2021 and was provided the full schedule of which classes and when her practicums are to be conducted over the next two years. .Though Velthuis was scheduled to be in a placement, her placement had actually not been paused before November 30, 2021..Lethbridge College did not get back with a statement on this dilemma in time for publishing..Vaccine mandates at most universities and colleges in Alberta were removed as restrictions in the province lifted..The Western Standard has not been notified of any other schools still asking for this requirement.
