Ontario's Chief Medical Officer Of Health Mandates COVID-19 Vaccination Policies For High-Risk Settings

• Published date: 07 September 2021
• Law Firm: Fasken
• Author: Ms Laurie Turner and Rachel Hung

On August 17, 2021, Ontario's Chief Medical Officer of Health issued a Directive mandating COVID-19 vaccination policies for high-risk settings [PDF] (the "Directive"). The Directive was the 6th directive issued to health care providers and entities pursuant to section 77.7(1) of the Health Protection and Promotion Act (Ontario) (the "HPPA"). Under the Directive:

• public hospitals;
• service providers (within the meaning of the Home Care and Community Services Act 1994 (Ontario));¹
• local health integration networks (within the meaning of the Local Health System Integration Act 2006 (Ontario));² and
• ambulance services (within the meaning of the Ambulance Act (Ontario)),³

(the "Covered Organizations"), are required to have a COVID-19 vaccination policy ("Vaccination Policy") for employees, staff, contractors, students and volunteers ("Affected Individuals") that meets the requirements of the Directive (as summarized below), by September 7, 2021.

Pursuant to section 77.7(1) of the HPPA, the Chief Medical Officer of Health has the authority to issue a directive to any heath care provider or health care entity "respecting precautions and procedures to be followed to protect the health of persons anywhere in Ontario" where the Chief Medical Officer is of the opinion "that there exists or there may exist an immediate risk to the health of persons anywhere in Ontario". In issuing the Directive, Dr. Kieran Moore, the Chief Medical...