Background: When coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines became available, healthcare workers (HCWs) were prioritized for vaccination. Despite controversy, vaccine mandates were implemented in most healthcare settings across Canada, with many still in effect. Many studies have examined the perceived problem of vaccine hesitancy within the healthcare labour force. However, few have investigated the lived experience of mandated vaccination from the perspective of HCWs themselves. In this study, we examine this experience in a purposive sample of HCWs in the province of Ontario, including their decision-making processes, the mandates’ impact on their lives and livelihoods, and their views on the effects of mandates on patient care. The study is part of a mixed methods study reassessing the COVID-19 policy response in Canada.
Methods: We performed a reflexive thematic analysis of qualitative data of responses to one open ended question and open-ended entries to closed questions, offered by 245 HCWs in a published survey of a purposive sample of 468 HCWs in Ontario, of diverse vaccination status, professions, ages, socioeconomic status, races/ethnicities, and genders. Respondents were recruited through snowball sampling via social media and professional networks of the research team.
Results: Most respondents were unvaccinated, had been terminated for non-compliance with vaccination mandates, experienced personal losses, and reported negative views on mandates and their impacts on patient care. We identified six themes: (I) policies conflicting with scientific evidence and professional practice; (II) conflicts with medical ethics; (III) unacknowledged or dismissed personal hardships; (IV) unacknowledged or dismissed physical harms; (V) discrimination against unvaccinated HCWs and patients; and (VI) negative impacts on patient care.
Conclusions: Our study revealed a system in Ontario healthcare settings that inflicts significant harm on non-compliant HCWs and patients, discriminates against these HCWs’ right to work, and violates the right to informed consent of both HCWs and patients. These ethical violations, compounded by the mounting lack of evidence of effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccination to stop viral transmission—this effectiveness proposed as its scientific rationale—call for an urgent reconsideration of the practice.
This study makes it abundantly clear that vaccine mandates were a disgraceful violation of informed consent and bodily autonomy, discriminating against—and ultimately harming—those who chose not to comply.
According to a previous study, also conducted by Chaufan et al, employer vaccination mandates led to suicidal thoughts in 23.5% and depression/anxiety in 81.4% of healthcare workers:
If governments truly care about the well-being of their citizens, they must implement a complete ban on vaccine mandates. Those who vehemently pushed for such mandates during COVID-19 should be held accountable for the serious harm they have caused.
Terrible and Disgusting Psychotic Monsters who Genocided and Maimed Millions are in charge in virtually every country in the world. And hardly a squeak out of the people besides a small Courageous Group.
Over 200 young doctors have died suddenly in Canada jabbed up and believing the bullshit. Trudeau and Carney are monsters.
Thank you Dr. Hulscher!
Terrible and Disgusting Psychotic Monsters who Genocided and Maimed Millions are in charge in virtually every country in the world. And hardly a squeak out of the people besides a small Courageous Group.