Canadian health care workers, especially nurses and paramedics, have had high rates of vaccine hesitancy, according to data cited in a peer-reviewed periodical. Findings were drawn from a survey of more than 15,000 people nationwide..“Health care workers were among those who were most likely to express vaccine hesitancy early in the pandemic,” said a Canadian Medical Association Journal commentary. The issue was timely given federal promotion of booster shots, said the article Weak COVID Booster Campaign Resurrects Spectre Of Health Worker Hesitancy..“Organizations seem to be walking a tightrope between encouraging vaccination and protecting vaccine refusers,” said the Journal. “The Ontario Nurses’ Association, for example, urges health care employers ‘not to rely solely on vaccination to prevent the spread of COVID-19’ and ‘supports education and addressing vaccine hesitancy, not penalizing and terminating nurses when we need them most.’”.According to Blacklock's Reporter, claims of reluctance by Canadian medical staff to get vaccinated are based on research published in BMJ, the British Medical Journal. The periodical cited questionnaires sent to 15,019 Canadians by Léger Marketing in the first year of the pandemic. The survey was commissioned by the Montréal Behavioural Medicine Centre..“We identified two important groups of individuals at greater risk of being vaccine hesitant: essential and health care workers,” said the BMJ essay Understanding National Trends In COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy In Canada. “Evidence of greater hesitancy among essential and health care workers was both surprising and a cause for concern given they are the individuals most likely to be exposed, and expose others, to COVID-19. However our results do seem to be line with U.S. data.”.Up to 54% of essential workers like transport drivers, factory hands and contractors said they were reluctant to get vaccinated. Rates for health care workers were not detailed but appeared high, said BMJ..“Our finding of high vaccine hesitancy among health care workers is consistent with other studies both within and outside of Canada,” wrote authors. “Though we were not able to determine what types of health care workers are more likely to be vaccine hesitant, data from previous reports suggests this is more common among female health care workers as well as nurses and paramedic professionals rather than physicians or health administrators.”.“While the reasons for vaccine hesitancy among health care workers remain poorly understood, available evidence suggest their hesitancy is linked to vaccine novelty and concerns about safety,” said BMJ. “Further research is needed.”.A federal panel, the National Advisory Committee on Immunization, to date has not issued a general recommendation that all Canadian adults take booster shots. However Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos on July 1 said Canadians would soon be “required” to get vaccinated every nine months..“We want to be prepared for next fall and that requires an up to date vaccination which is based on the nine months,” said Duclos, adding: “‘Fully vaccinated’ makes no sense now. It’s about ‘up to date.’ So am I up to date in my vaccination? Have I received a vaccination in the last nine months?”
