Questions raised about staff vaccination after long-term care worker in West Van tests positive

A North Shore woman is raising questions about how many long-term care workers have still not been vaccinated and whether they should face any restrictions on their work with care home residents after learning a staff member at her dad’s long-term care centre tested positive for the virus a month after the first vaccination round.

Constance McCormick, whose 96-year-old father lives at West Vancouver’s Inglewood Care Centre, said most residents and staff at the seniors home got the shot Jan. 6.

But in a letter to families sent last week, the administrator of the care home confirmed a staff member had recently tested positive for the virus.

There has been “no known transmission” and “the likelihood of exposure is low," according to Inglewood administrator Chris Russell. About 94 per cent of residents at the seniors home and “many” of the staff have been vaccinated, said Russell.

“As a result, the medical health officer has declared that Inglewood is on enhanced surveillance and precautions only.”

According to Vancouver Coastal Health, one case of COVID-19 in a staff member is no longer automatically considered an “outbreak” – in part because of the restrictions that are put on both families and residents when an outbreak is declared.

But McCormick said given the recent case, she wonders how many staff have received the vaccine and whether it has been easy enough for them to get it.

Inglewood Care Centre referred all questions about vaccination at the care centre to Vancouver Coastal Health and the Ministry of Health.

In a statement, the Ministry of Health said it "does not have specific data related to the long-term care staff who have not received COVID-19 vaccine, including their rationale."

According to information presented by Dr. Bonnie Henry, the province’s medical health officer, 89 per cent of long-term care staff and residents received at least one dose of the vaccine provincewide. All first doses of vaccine were offered at long-term care homes and assisted living centres in Vancouver Coastal Health by Jan. 21.

Vaccines are not mandatory to work in health care settings or long-term care homes, and some people have medical conditions in which vaccination is not recommended. Vaccines have also not been given to people who have had COVID in the past three months as they are expected to still have natural immunity to the virus.

Staff are required to follow all infection control protocols whether or not they have received the vaccine.

Henry described the high uptake of the vaccine among staff and residents at long-term care homes as “a protective buffer.” Having the vast majority of people in long-term care vaccinated creates a form of “herd immunity” within the care home, she said on Friday. “So if there's a small number of people who are not immunized and if it's a health-care worker, and they do become infected, the chances of them passing it on to any of the residents is now much, much lower because the residents themselves are protected.”

According to a letter sent to families, residents at Inglewood are tentatively scheduled to receive the second dose of the vaccine in the coming week. All care home workers who haven't received it yet continue to be eligible to receive a first dose of the vaccine.