FRONTLINE HEALTH WORKERS FORCED TO TAKE UNPAID LEAVE TO GET VACCINATED, “NOT CONSIDERED A MEDICAL APPOINTMENT”

EDMONTON - Frontline healthcare workers battling the deadly third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic are being told they must take an unpaid leave or give up vacation time to get vaccinated, as the jab “is not considered a medical appointment.”

“Tyler Shandro must reverse this unconscionable decision immediately,” said Christina Gray, NDP Critic for Labour. “These Albertans have been putting themselves and their families at great risk from COVID-19 for more than a year. The government should be doing everything it can to get these heroes vaccinated smoothly, but instead they are actually making them pay a penalty for getting their shot.” 

In March, the Official Opposition called for three paid hours for all Albertans to ensure every working person can get vaccinated without worrying about loss of income. 

“Tyler Shandro has been at war with Alberta doctors for more than a year, and now he’s picking a dangerous new fight with hospital nurses, housekeepers, unit clerks and thousands more. The idea that getting vaccinated against a deadly virus is not a medical appointment is totally absurd.”

The decision was circulated to AHS employees in a memo last week, but Shandro still attempted to deny charging frontline workers for their vaccination time in an exchange with Gray in the Alberta Legislature today, just as he previously attempted to deny his war on Alberta doctors.

“Every Albertan who has to go into the hospital, or take a loved one to hospital, wants the frontline staff who care for them to be vaccinated. It’s absolutely unacceptable that the Kenney government is putting these heroes and all the Albertans they help at unnecessary risk as part of some petty political game,” said Gray.

“I’m calling on Tyler Shandro to reverse this awful decision today.”