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'I was beside myself': Son of Northwood resident pushes for mandatory vaccinations for long-term care workers, visitors

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DARTMOUTH, N.S. -

When Greg Sheaves found out an unvaccinated relative had been able to visit his 85-year-old mother in Halifax's Northwood long-term care facility, he couldn't believe it. 

He called Northwood, to find out how that happened.

"They explained to me that there were still employees and workers that were not vaccinated," he recalls.

"I was beside myself, I said 'excuse me?'" Sheaves said.

His mother has Alzheimer's disease and survived the deadly COVID-19 outbreak in the facility last year, which killed 53 residents.

Sheaves spent months not being allowed to see her, even as her designated caregiver.

Once she was fully vaccinated, he did the same. Even so, he still had to wait until the province lifted restrictions enough to allow him to visit again.

Now, he says anyone can come into the facility and see a resident, regardless of their vaccination status.

Sheaves says that shouldn't be allowed and says all staff in the facility should also be required to be fully vaccinated.

"To find out that there are workers inside that aren't mandated to get a vaccination is appalling to me," he says.

"We've adhered to all of their policies (as a designated caregiver), been extra careful," he says, "They've explained that their hands are tied, it has to come from the Premier."

The CEO of Northwood, Janet Simm, declined CTV's request for an interview.

In a written statement, Simm said: "Northwood continues to encourage and offer opportunities to vaccinate staff and Designated Caregivers, (and) continues to work under the guidance of Public Health and follows the directives for long-term care issued by the Department of Health and Wellness."

Those guidelines do not require staff to be vaccinated, nor do they require that visitors be screened based on their vaccination status.

 "We're opening up Nova Scotia to the world," says Sheaves, "but we're not protecting our own inside of our own borders, which is a very scary thought for me and for my mother, who is our last family member."

The head of the Nursing Homes of Nova Scotia Association says some homes have a 97 per cent vaccination rate among staff.

"We're very pleased to see we've had very strong vaccination uptake," says Michele Lowe.

"But we continue to educate those who are vaccine hesitant in the facilities."

CTV News asked Northwood for its vaccination rate among workers but was not provided the information despite several inquiries.

On Friday, some of Canada's largest private long-term care companies announced the requirement for staff to be fully vaccinated by Oct. 12 or be placed on unpaid leave.

When asked if the same should happen in Nova Scotia, NHNSA's executive director says the situation in this province is different than in other jurisdictions.

"The protocols that we've had in place long before staff were even vaccinated kept COVID out of our facilities in the third wave," says Michele Lowe.

As for screening visitors by vaccination status, "They're just asked the (usual) screening questions," says Lowe, "we certainly know that that is one of these confidential questions, and until we hear otherwise, we have not been mandated by public health to be asking those kinds of questions."

In New Brunswick servants and teachers must get the shot -- or get tested regularly.

In an email response to CTV News, Nova Scotia's Department of Health and Wellness writes:

"Vaccine policy, including mandates, is an important issue, and we are giving this careful consideration."

"At the same time, we are watching our vaccine coverage rates and epidemiology closely. Public health will bring forward recommendations on vaccine policy if it is felt that is it needed to keep all Nova Scotians safe."

If the province did mandate vaccinations for long-term care staff, Lowe says facilities would comply.

It a measure one elder care advocacy group says government should have already been implemented for all hands-on health-care workers.

Gary MacLeod of Advocates for the Care of the Elderly says even a 97 per cent vaccination rate among workers is not enough.

"It should be 100 per cent vaccination," he says, "with the elderly it's a real vulnerable segment of our population, and we need to have the utmost protection that they can get."

He believes workers who can't be vaccinated – or chose not to – could be moved into jobs that don't require patient contact.

For Greg Sheaves, it's about protecting his mother from any potential risk.

"The very least we should be doing," he says, "is the very best."

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