What To Expect If You're Unvaxxed In Ontario & Your Work Has A Mandatory Vaccine Policy
If you aren't vaccinated you will have to get tested regularly.
On Tuesday, the Ontario government announced that mandatory vaccine policies will be implemented for workers in high-risk settings including some health care and education workers.
This means that staff, contractors, students, and volunteers at hospitals and home and community care settings will be required to follow the mandatory COVID-19 vaccine policy.
Other settings, like post-secondary institutions, retirement homes and women's shelters will also be included.
By September 7, these workers will be required to prove that they are fully vaccinated. If not, they will have to either state the medical reason or complete an educational course about vaccinations.
Those who choose to not receive a COVID-19 vaccine will have to be tested regularly in order to work.
Dr. Kieran Moore, chief medical officer of health, states that workers could be required to get tested up to three times a week depending on the community.
"The frequency of the testing will be following the risk in the community in which the individual lives or works. At a minimum, it would be once a week. It would escalate up to twice or three times a week depending on how Delta is spreading in the community," revealed Moore.
However, the doctor also revealed that those who are unvaxxed will not need to pay for these tests to be completed.
"There will be no cost for the test, most of the funding for these antigen or rapid tests are from the federal government," Moore noted.