BREAKING: Booster Shot Will Be Mandatory at Au Chateau This Fall
Local nursing home's plan to force COVID booster shot risks severely impacting service levels.
Earlier this week on social media, I shared an email from the Au Chateau Board advising me that I could no longer attend board meetings as an observer unless my COVID vaccinations were up to date. The board also advised me that I would not be privy to their agenda which I later found out was sent to other non-board members (just not me). It appears that they simply wanted me to be absent from this meetings and they did not want the public to know what they would discuss. But why?
Once I was able to obtain the agenda, accompanying documentation and further emails, I finally understood. Au Chateau is getting ready to enforce their controversial vaccination policy for staff.
Au Chateau’s policy which was approved in September 2021 states that employees must be “fully vaccinated” and are to receive “any further recommended booster”. Au Chateau’s unique policy has allowed them to force employees to get the third shot back in the winter and spring of 2022.
After the third shot and the apparent lack of interest in getting additional boosters, Au Chateau Management quietly stopped enforcing their policy for most employees.
However the Board voted a few months ago to keep the vaccine policy in place. At the time, the Director, Jacques Dupuis told the Tribune newspaper that maintaining this policy was crucial in order to force the NEXT booster.
“We believe that some staff may resist taking future boosters” (if we don’t keep our mandate in place) - Au Chateau Director, Jacques Dupuis
So it shouldn’t come as a surprise that this nursing home is now getting ready to force their employees to take the new Monovalent XBB booster shot.
Staff Will Be Required to Get the Booster
This weeks’ apparent secret board meeting seemed to only concern boosters and the predictable alarmism of the cold and flu season. The board received the Director’s monthly update which sounded off the alarms of COVID.
Cases of Covid are popping up earlier than anticipated in September, not only in our home, but also community wide. What is alarming is the number of employee cases investigated that is at the same level as the height of Covid-19 outbreak in our home.
Then the board received the latest IPAC report (Infection Prevention and Control). In this report, they indicated:
Receiving a booster dose in the Fall, as respiratory season commences, will maximize protection against COVID-19 when peak circulation of the virus is expected.
I inquired with multiple board members as to the status of Au Chateau’s vaccine policy and if staff would be required to get the booster. Provincial Board appointee, Catherine Neddow confirmed to me that the board intended to mandate the booster shot.
She put this question to Board Chair, Daniel Gagne and his response was that staff would be required by late fall. Gagne also responded to me separately saying that the board “stands behind their vaccination policy”.
A Booster Mandate is Very Dangerous For Service Levels
Last year less than a quarter of Canadians chose the booster shot. Experts are expecting even lower numbers this year. In the US, they have had access to the new booster since early September. But the Washington Post reported this week that only 3% of Americans have chosen to get it.
The reality is that most Canadians may refuse the newest booster. There a number of factors for this but among them is that the latest booster was designed to target a variant from last winter (XBB) that is no longer in circulation. The higher likelihood of adverse events (compared to other traditional vaccines) is also a factor in many people’s decision making.
This is presenting a very dangerous possibility for organizations such as Au Chateau who may be putting over half their staff on leave if they refuse the latest booster shot. Director Jacques Dupuis stated to the Tribune in May that at least 7 employees (out of approximately 100) have been let go because of these rules so far. Au Chateau, like many LTC homes is constantly facing staff shortages and this policy risks putting service levels in a dangerous territory just ahead of winter.
I recommend staff, caregivers and community members contact the Au Chateau board members and let them know that this is a risk too big to take. They need to end this unnecessary vaccine policy ASAP. Regardless of our differing views on the COVID shots, we cannot risk losing half the staff over differences in opinions on personal health choices.
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