Saskatoon — The Saskatchewan Union of Nurses (SUN) is calling for mandatory vaccination for all health care workers and a return to mandated masking.
“We’re into the fourth wave and vaccines are the biggest tool in our toolbox,” SUN president Tracy Zambory tells CTV News.
SUN wants regular COVID-19 testing for the healthcare workers who don’t want the shot, or are unable to receive a vaccine because of medical exemption.
The call follows an increase in cases of the virus.
Saskatchewan reported 190 new cases of COVID-19 on Thursday, bringing active cases in the province to 1,203.
“We are seeing more and more people come into hospital that are younger and sicker,” Zambory says.
The Canadian Medical Association said it supports mandatory vaccines for health care workers.
Requiring vaccinations as a condition of employment in health-care settings is not new. Many hospitals and long-term care homes require doctors, nurses and support staff to be fully immunized against diseases such as tetanus and hepatitis B.
In France, the government pushed a law mandating COVID-19 vaccines for health care workers by September.
SUN is also calling for COVID-19 restrictions to come back, including mandatory masking.
“We're not trying to be fear mongers, but we have to face reality here: we are still in COVID, so we need to have all of these public health orders put back into place,” Zambory says.
CTV News has reached out to the Ministry of Health and is awaiting a response.
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