Nursing home workers' union wants extension of COVID-19 vaccination deadline

The head of the province's nursing home workers' union is asking the provincial government to extend the deadline for workers to get a COVID-19 vaccine.

In early October, the government said long-term care workers, staff and volunteers in schools and licensed early learning and child-care centres have until Nov. 19 to be fully vaccinated or face unpaid leave. This mandate also includes all government employees.

Sharon Teare, president of the New Brunswick Council of Nursing Home Unions, says workers need more time.

"Even if they get their first dose this week, they still won't meet the timeline," she said in an interview with Information Morning Fredericton.

People have to wait 28 days before receiving their second dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.

Teare also pleaded with workers get vaccinated, not only to protect themselves but also the people around them, especially in light of the death of a worker at a Dalhousie nursing home.

"At the end of the day it's for your safety," she said in the interview. "Just look at your co-workers and say, 'Hey, if you do it for not yourself, do it for those ... around you.' Get the facts. Get the information. Be comfortable. Don't listen to social media."

Teare said she expects "quite a few" people won't meet this deadline, noting that, including all nursing homes, there could be as many as 300 workers not yet vaccinated.

An extension is needed because there are not enough workers to pick up the slack if partially vaccinated or unvaccinated workers have to stay home, she said.

"We cannot afford to lose any more hands from the direct care of our seniors in New Brunswick," she said.

"It would definitely be neglect if government does not extend this timeline ... It will be a gross neglect to our most vulnerable seniors in the province of New Brunswick, living in nursing homes."

CBC News has requested a response from the Department of Health.    

Lack of trust

Teare said there are still a lot of workers who are not comfortable with the available information on the vaccines.

"The anxieties are real to them," she said. "And there's definitely a lack of trust in the government."

The most common concerns come from people trying to start a family or have more children, Teare said. 

Experts have said a COVID-19 vaccine is safe for pregnant people or people who want to conceive.

Teare said that information hasn't been emphasized, and said respectful communication and one-on-one consultation would go a long way in convincing unvaccinated workers to get vaccinated.

"We have to take a process of identifying the concerns that are within those group of individuals, to hear their concerns and then to address those in a respectful, nonjudgmental" way, she said.

"It will happen and we're seeing that happen ... just with the small amount of numbers that we have spoken to as a group and personally myself, I'm seeing more uptake."