Letter: We must better protect our frontline health-care workers

By Letter to the Editor on April 9, 2021.

Dear editor,

A letter to Health Minister Tyler Shandro:

A recent Medicine Hat News article, “Local paramedic says certain hospital workers left out of vaccine rollout” prompted the Board of Palliser Friends of Medicare to contact the issue’s advocate, health-care worker and HSAA member, Jason Soklofske, for more information. For we were astonished by his report of the disregard shown to hundreds of frontline health-care workers in the current vaccine rollout plans. More sadly still, we subsequently learned from Soklofske that his concerns over patient care and community spread by unvaccinated frontline workers had been met with disinterest by one of the MLA’s offices in Medicine Hat. We urge the Health Ministry to right this wrong immediately by moving workers in all health sectors ahead of the general population in the province’s vaccine rollout plan.

Alberta is currently in Phase 2B of the vaccine rollout schedule, but frontline health-care workers such as Diagnostic Imaging and Lab Services Technologists are only set to receive their vaccines during Phase 2C (date to be determined). In the meantime, they will continue to be exposed to possible and confirmed COVID patients, all while still interacting with other vulnerable patients, staff, and the community at large. Recent real-life data indicates that persistent, casual contact with COVID infected persons, even if the care worker is using PPE, has strong potential for infection.

Every time there is a confirmed COVID exposure, these essential health-care providers are required to isolate, thereby reducing available staffing for our entire local health-care system. If the government intends to preserve and not overwhelm this system, why aren’t frontline health-care workers such as these a greater priority in the vaccine schedule? Their daily sacrifice needs to be recognized and responded to accordingly. Staffing shortages due to continual quarantines only add to the stress and anxiety that they must endure so you and I and our families can be safe from recurrent community spreads.

With such revelations, it is difficult to trust that the Ministry of Health has considered the far-reaching community impacts of the vaccine schedule. Please act to restore public trust by realigning the province’s vaccine rollout plan to accord with obvious public health-care needs.

Avril Torrence and Alison Van Dyke (co-chairs, Palliser Friends of Medicare)

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