The local government in Ontario, Canada may soon require hospitals to rehire unvaccinated workers due to intense staff shortages as cases rise in the region.
The Ontario Hospital Association warned the government that it should allow current staff vaccination mandates to stay in place, local outlet the Ottawa Citizen reported on Tuesday.
Vaccine requirements help prevent outbreaks in the hospital, said Anthony Dale, head of the hospital association - and rehiring unvaccinated employees would put patients and staff at risk.
While a small number of unvaccinated workers were fired in 2021 due to hospital vaccination requirements, Dale said, the firings didn't have a major impact on staffing.
In the U.S., similar staff shortages at hospitals are leading some facilities to ask staff to come into work when they've recently tested positive for COVID-19.
Ontario's provincial government may ask hospitals to rehire unvaccinated workers, according to local reports. Pictured: A nurse checks on a Covid patient in the ICU of Humber River Hospital in Toronto, Ontario, April 2021
The number of Covid hospitals in Ontario ICUs is rising rapidly, with a record 80 adults admitted in a single day on Monday
Like the U.S., Canada is currently facing a major Covid surge driven by the highly contagious Omicron variant.
The country is currently reporting about 40,000 new cases a day - more than four times higher than the previous record, 9,000 cases a day.
As cases surge, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has recommended that Americans avoid traveling to Canada.
On Monday, the CDC moved Canada to 'Level 4' - the highest danger level - of its Covid travel advisory recommendations.
Ontario, the nation's most populous province, is one of the regions that's been hardest hit by the Omicron surge.
There are more than 3,200 people hospitalized with Covid across the province, as of Tuesday - a record high.
The region also reported record intensive care unit admissions, with 80 adults admitted to ICUs for Covid treatment on Monday.
At the same time, hospitals in the region are facing staff shortages as healthcare workers themselves become infected with Omicron.
The province's health minister, Christine Elliott, recently announced that the government will send in nurses trained internationally to address the shortages.
Ontario's leaders are also considering a new requirement for hospitals in the region that would force them to rehire unvaccinated workers.
The majority of hospitals in Ontario currently mandate vaccination for all staff, though the province allows employers to use regular testing as an alternative to inoculation.
These requirements led to a small number of workers getting fired - and these workers could be rehired by their
