Fourth Update on Vaccine Mandates

Today, November 30, is the last day for employees under two vaccination mandates to provide their employers proof of vaccination for COVID-19.

Under both the COVID-19 vaccination mandate for key sectors and the provincial civil service vaccination directive, all employees are required to have at least a first dose of vaccine by November 30. Those who are partially vaccinated may be subject to other health and safety measures, including testing. Those who do not have a first dose by today will face employment consequences, including unpaid leave, which will begin tomorrow, December 1.

Latest data shows 99 per cent of frontline healthcare, continuing care, paramedics, education employees’ and others in the COVID-19 vaccine mandate have at least one dose of vaccine. It also shows 99 per cent of provincial government employees have at least one dose.

“Nova Scotians are showing they care about the people they serve by getting vaccinated and keeping them safe,” said Premier Tim Houston. “I’m told there will be few disruptions to service as vaccination rates are very high.”

Government is working with all organizations to monitor and address any impacts. All organizations have contingency plans, but most are anticipating they will not be needed.

The Department of Education and Early Childhood Development says there may be some disruption to school busing in Halifax Regional Centre for Education (HRCE) and small pockets in other education regions. School regions are working with their bus providers and staff to mitigate impacts to students and families. In HRCE, drivers may be assigned to new routes and one driver may need to cover an additional route before and after school, leading to potential delays for students. Families will be notified if there is a change or delay to their child’s bus route.

The Department of Seniors and Long-Term Care is working closely with long-term care facilities and home-care agencies to ensure residents and seniors continue to get the care they need. While vaccination rates are high across the sector, existing workforce shortages mean that even a small number of unvaccinated staff could result in a facility or agency not being able to accept new residents or seniors. Contingency plans could include using employment agencies and travelling nursing staff and offering part-time and casual staff full-time employment.

Most sectors or organizations under the COVID-19 vaccination mandate are reporting first or fully vaccinated rates of:

• Nova Scotia Health Authority: 96.5 per cent fully vaccinated (up from 95 per cent on November 24), 3.1 per cent partially vaccinated, 23,422 total employees with 91.3 per cent reporting (up from 90 per cent)
• IWK Health Centre: 99.2 per cent (no change), 0.6 per cent partially vaccinated, 3,573 total employees with 99.4 per cent reporting (no change)
• long-term care: 96.1 per cent fully vaccinated (up from 95 per cent), 2.1 per cent partially vaccinated, 11,027 total employees with 98.0 per cent reporting (up from 95 per cent)
• home care: 95.3 per cent fully vaccinated (up from 95), three per cent partially vaccinated, 3,821 total employees with 97.1 per cent reporting (up from 97 per cent)
• education: 97.8 per cent fully vaccinated (up from 97 per cent), 1.3 per cent partially vaccinated, 18,726 total employees with 96.4 per cent reporting (up from 90 per cent)
• Emergency Health Services (EHS): 98.8 per cent fully vaccinated (no change), 0.8 per cent partially vaccinated, 1,353 total employees with 100 per cent reporting (up from 92 per cent)
• adult day programs (Seniors and Long-term Care): 94.6 per cent fully vaccinated (up from 94 per cent), no employees partially vaccinated, 76 total employees with 97.4 per cent reporting
• correctional services: 98.7 per cent fully vaccinated (no change), 0.8 per cent partially vaccinated, 527 total employees with 99.4 per cent reporting
• Community Services (Disability Support Program and Child and Youth Caring Program): 93.9 per cent fully vaccinated (up from 93 per cent), 4.4 per cent partially vaccinated, 8,269 total employees with 97.2 per cent reporting
• daycares: 94.5 per cent full vaccinated (up from 93 per cent), 3.8 per cent partially vaccinated, with 97.1 per cent of facilities reporting
• Hearing and Speech NS: 99.4 per cent fully vaccinated (no change), no employees partially vaccinated, 173 total employees with 100 per cent reporting.

Twenty exemptions to the COVID-19 vaccination mandate were granted:

• two granted of 134 human rights exemption requests
• 18 granted of 49 medical exemption requests

The data being reported is as of November 29. Data collection continues today until 11:59 p.m. and a final update on the mandates will be provided by the end of the week.

No further information will be available until the final update.

Quick Facts:

• under the COVID-19 vaccination mandate employees are required to have at least a first dose of vaccine by November 30, with a requirement to show proof of full vaccination up to 70 days after their first dose; those who are partially vaccinated may be subjected to other health and safety measures, including testing; those who do not have a first dose by November 30 will be placed on unpaid leave
• under the provincial civil service vaccination directive, employees must have at first dose of the vaccine by November 30 with a requirement to show proof of full vaccination up to 56 days after their first dose; those who do not have a first dose by November 30 will face employment consequences up to and including unpaid leave
• 84.6 per cent of Nova Scotians have at least one dose of vaccine with 81.3 per cent fully vaccinated

Additional Resources:

Information on COVID-19 vaccination and how to get vaccinated: https://novascotia.ca/coronavirus/vaccine/

More information on the COVID-19 vaccination mandate: https://novascotia.ca/news/release/?id=20211105004

More information on the provincial civil service vaccination mandate: https://novascotia.ca/news/release/?id=20211006005