COVID-19 Updates

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ONA Vaccination Statement

The Ontario Nurses’ Association (ONA) and its members are doing their part in both administering the vaccine and receiving it themselves.

ONA recommends that health-care workers receive the vaccine if they can, while recognizing that this is a decision that needs to be made by the health-care worker based on voluntary and informed consent, and where appropriate, with the advice of a health-care professional.

COVID-19 vaccinations, while beneficial in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, are not a complete answer, but only part of a health and safety and infection control program. ONA expects all employers to comply with the Occupational Health and Safety Act and take every precaution reasonably necessary to protect the health and safety of workers. This includes easy access to, and the use of, N95 respirators and other personal protective equipment.

ONA encourages employers to remove the barriers that are likely causing vaccine hesitancy. Some employers are making little meaningful effort to facilitate staff vaccination uptake.

For example, are they hosting vaccine clinics at their workplaces? Are they providing sick pay to employees who cannot work following their vaccination due to side effects? Punishing or shaming unvaccinated employees is not the answer. Providing sick pay to any employee experiencing side effects, including part-time and casual employees, and providing paid time to obtain the vaccine would foster vaccine uptake.

Telephone Town Halls: Wednesday, September 15, 2021

ONA First Vice-President Cathryn Hoy, CEO Beverly Mathers and ONA President Vicki McKenna held two telephone town halls on Wednesday, September 15. These sessions covered vaccine policies, ONA's position and any vaccine-related questions that members had.

Click here to listen to the 5:30 p.m. town hall.

Click here to listen to the 7:30 p.m. town hall.

View the questions-and-answers document based on your questions from the April 15 Town Hall.

Media Releases

Click here for more ONA media releases.

• September 13, 2021: MEDIA STATEMENT: Ontario Nurses’ Association Adamantly Opposed to Today’s Anti-Vaccine Protests
• April 30, 2021: ‘Inaction is not an option,’ says Ontario Nurses’ Association as Long-Term Care-COVID-19 Report Released
• April 28, 2021: MEDIA STATEMENT: ONA Supports the Auditor-General’s Recommendations on the Serious Staffing and Infection Control Issues in Long-Term Care
• April 28, 2021: Ontario Nurses’ Association to Mark a Sombre National Day of Mourning
• March 29, 2021: Ontario Nurses’ Association Urges Action to Protect Workers Now Following Quebec Legal Decision
• March 23, 2021: ‘Litany of Failures’ Made Long-Term Care COVID-19 Deaths Worse, Says New Report
• March 22, 2021: Ontario Nurses’ Association Makes Recommendations To Fix Long-Term Care in Wake of COVID-19
• March 1, 2021: Ontario Nurses’ Association Launches Ad Campaign “As Pandemic Continues, Courageous Nurses Hold the Line”

ONA in the News

• At least 860 people have died of COVID-19 in Ontario hospital outbreaks (Toronto Star, September 16, 2021). This makes hospitals Ontario’s second-deadliest setting for COVID-19 outbreaks in the pandemic, behind long-term care homes but ahead of retirement homes. Dr. Abdu Sharkawy, an infectious diseases consultant at the University Health Network, says this “unmitigated tragedy” highlights the need for changes to better control the spread of respiratory diseases in hospitals. Critics of the province’s pandemic guidelines for hospitals, say they are at odds with the latest research that highlights the strong risks of airborne transmission. “This high number of deaths in hospitals tells us that COVID-19 is indeed airborne as the Ontario Nurses’ Association warned from the very beginning of the pandemic,” ONA President Vicki McKenna said Wednesday. “It didn’t have to be this way and the government was advised many times.”  In May, the province defeated a court challenge from ONA that called on the chief medical officer of health to update Directive 5 to recognize the airborne risk of COVID-19, including enforcing a mandate to use N95 respirators. Twenty-nine infection prevention and control professionals, representing 24 Ontario hospital networks, supported the province against the union’s court challenge, signing their names endorsing Directive 5 and stating their opinion that COVID is primarily spread by “droplet and contact” route, rather than airborne transmission. Directive 5 was updated in October, but the focus on “droplet and contact” protocols, with situational exceptions, remains unchanged since spring 2020.
• Despite condemnation from local officials, dozens of protesters rallied against vaccine mandates outside The Ottawa Hospital on Monday (CTV News Ottawa, September 13, 2021). The protest group described the event as a “silent vigil of solidarity.” In a statement, ONA President Vicki McKenna said the union is opposed to the protests taking place outside hospitals. “We know from previous protests on the streets in front of hospitals, that nurses and health-care professionals, along with their patients and their families, were harassed entering the facilities, and we implore these protesters to ensure their safe passage. Hospitals must be safe zones for patients, families and staff.”
• There are mixed reactions six days after Windsor Regional Hospital announced its new vaccination policy (CTV Two Windsor, September 8, 2021). Employment lawyers say it’s a necessary and legal step. While the Ontario Nurses’ Association supports COVID-19 vaccines and encourages members to get vaccinated, the union believes hospitals need to spend more time talking with staff to address vaccine hesitancy.
• TVO.org (September 6, 2021) has republished an article with permission from The Conversation about health-care worker burnout. The piece notes that it’s “no surprise” that the pandemic has boosted burnout rates, and the authors say the health-care system requires “systemic change.” It notes that many health-care workers resent how their employers are handling a depleted workforce. Clinical psychologist Dana Ménard found that incentives for new hires caused anger among those who had been on the front lines for a year with no retention rewards. Vicki McKenna, president of the Ontario Nurses’ Association, expressed concerns about staffing, telling a reporter, “I fear that it is going to be devastating to the workforce. I’m very worried about the future of the nursing workforce.” Appreciating what is happening to these nurses and how to respond hinges on understanding burnout, which may be the primary occupational hazard of health-care work.

Chief Medical Officer of Health (CMOH) COVID-19 Directives

MOH Coronavirus Situation Reports

September 24, 2021: MOH Coronavirus Situation Report #521

Click here to view previous MOH Coronavirus Situation Reports.