The Provincial Health Officer issued an order requiring certain health professionals be vaccinated against COVID-19 by October 26, 2021.
CDSBC interprets the Order to mean that, in time, all of our registrants will be required to be vaccinated to provide health care or services in BC.
You can read the Order at the link below:
This Order to be vaccinated by October 26 is directed to health care employers (i.e. Regional Health Boards, the Provincial Health Services Authority, British Columbia Emergency Health Services, Providence Health Care, the Minister of Health, the Minister of Mental Health and Addictions, and operators of Provincial Mental Health Facilities), their employees, contractors, subcontractors, and health professionals who work for them.
Section L on page 17 of the Order includes a broad “Notice to Health Professionals,” which states:
"TAKE NOTICE that in accordance with further direction from [the Provincial Health Officer (PHO)], health professionals to be determined by [the PHO] and their staff, not otherwise required to be vaccinated under the Residential Care COVID-19 Preventive Measures Order or this Order, will be required to be vaccinated by a date to be determined by [the PHO] in order to provide health care or services in the Province."
We understand that you and your patients will have questions about how the Order applies to the provision of dental care, and we commit to providing more information as soon as it becomes available.
To quote from the Order, “the public health and health care systems are currently experiencing severe stress, and are stretched beyond capacity in their efforts to prevent and respond to illness resulting from the transmission of COVID-19 in the population.” It goes on to say that “an unvaccinated person who provides health care or services in a hospital or community setting, puts patients, residents, clients, staff, and other persons who provide health care or services at risk of infection with SARS-CoV-2, and constitutes a health hazard under the Public Health Act.”
CDSBC stands with the other BC health regulators in supporting the Office of the Provincial Health Officer and the Ministry of Health. Compliance with all applicable PHO orders, directives and recommendations is an expectation of every registrant of CDSBC.
We recognize that the vast majority of registrants are already taking the responsibility to help eliminate COVID-19 in our communities by getting vaccinated yourselves and diligently following COVID-19 prevention practices at work.
Please note that this Order does not apply to:
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A place to which the Residential Care Vaccination Status COVID-19 Information Order and the Residential Care COVID-19 Preventive Measures Order apply.
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The First Nations Health Authority, First Nations Health Service Organizations, Treaty First Nations, the Nisga’a Nation, the Métis Nation of BC, or to health care, personal care, home support or other services provided or funded by one of those bodies.