On Friday, July 26, 2024, B.C.’s Provincial Health Officer (PHO) announced in a news release that the COVID-19 orders were rescinded effective immediately, including the vaccine requirement for health care workers. This vaccine mandate had included service provider staff in the community living sector and CLBC staff. CLBC has confirmed that the ending of the vaccine mandate extends to our staff and the community living sector, which means that COVID-19 vaccination is no longer a requirement of employment. As a result, CLBC’s Interim Policy – COVID-19 Vaccination Requirements for CLBC Service Providers is also now rescinded and has been removed from the CLBC website.
In deciding to end the public health emergency and those associated emergency powers in the Public Health Act, the PHO has determined the actions outlined under the public health emergency, such as mandatory vaccinations for health-care workers, are no longer necessary to protect public health from significant harm. Workers who did not comply with previous orders requiring COVID-19 immunization can now apply for positions. For more information on the PHO’s ending of the orders and the rationale, see the two news releases:
- Provincial health officer rescinds orders for COVID-19: https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2024HLTH0114-001202
- COVID-19 public-health emergency ends, new vaccine registry will keep people safe: https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2024HLTH0115-001204. CLBC will provide further updates once we have clarification on whether the new vaccine registry applies to community living sector staff and licensed group homes.
The order that applied to CLBC staff and the community living sector, which has now been archived/repealed was called HOSPITAL AND COMMUNITY (HEALTH CARE AND OTHER SERVICES) COVID-19 VACCINATION STATUS INFORMATION AND PREVENTIVE MEASURES posted on this BC Government webpage under Archived Order – Other Orders.
If you have any questions about the PHO’s announcement and how it relates to the community living sector, please contact CLBCInfo@gov.bc.ca.
