Some caregivers' vax status hidden
Health-care providers should disclose info to patients: doctor
A former head of the UBC Centre for Disease Control says he's concerned that private health-care providers — such as chiropractors, acupuncturists, naturopaths and physicians in private practice — do not have to be vaccinated and that their vaccine status has not been made public.
Dr. William Bowie said he believes all health-care practitioners have a duty to protect their patients by being vaccinated against COVID-19 and that patients have the right to know whether or not their caregivers are vaccinated.
“If someone feels so strongly that they don't want to be vaccinated, I would hope they would have the guts to at least acknowledge that to the patients they are trying to take care of,” he said. “And then the patients can make their own, hopefully informed, decision as to whether they wish to take that potential risk or not.”
Health-care providers in B.C. who work in care homes or public health settings, such as hospitals, have had to be fully vaccinated since last fall.
At that time, the provincial health officer served notice that private health-care providers could expect a similar mandate.
But last month, Dr. Bonnie Henry decided against it.
Instead, she ordered regulated health practitioners to register their vaccination status with their respective regulatory colleges by March 31. The order covers 26 regulated health professions that are governed by 18 colleges in B.C.
Last month, Henry said people seeking treatment from private health-care providers would be given the information they need for “informed consent,” but it remains unclear whether that will include knowing if their caregiver is vaccinated.
Bowie, an infectious diseases specialist at Vancouver General Hospital and a professor of medicine at UBC, said he's disappointed by the watered-down order.
“I am concerned about the pressures that have been brought to bear on Dr. Henry and others for these stronger stances to be diluted,” Bowie said. “This reeks of political pressures impacting what initially seemed like a pretty clear and, I would argue, a reasonable policy.”
At a media briefing last week, Henry said she is working with each college to determine whether further measures are needed.
“We are working with the colleges over the weeks and months to put in place processes based on risk, so that people will have informed consent on whether they want to receive a procedure or a health-care service from a private practitioner who is vaccinated or not,” she said.
Henry added there could be different rules for different practitioners and did not rule out some having to be fully vaccinated.
Both Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix refused repeated requests for an interview this week. In a written statement, the Ministry of Health said the public can expect some statistics about vaccine status among regulated health professionals “in the coming weeks.”
“The vaccination status of individual regulated health professionals will not be published by the provincial health officer or colleges,” it read. “The provincial health officer will make aggregated vaccination rates by regulated health profession publicly available.”
Bowie said providing percentages of vaccinated individuals according to health profession does not equal informed consent.
“If a health-care provider isn't asked to provide that information to the patient, then what use is the aggregate data?”
None of the half-dozen colleges contacted by Postmedia agreed to an interview about next steps. Those that provided written responses said they will comply with provincial health orders. None said they were in discussions with the ministry about the degree of public disclosure that might be ordered.