Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry has ended the COVID-19 public health emergency, and along with it, the vaccine mandate for health-care workers.
Henry made the announcement Friday morning.
“I am confident there's no longer a need for this public health emergency and the powers that come under that to remain in place,” she said.
About 2,500 British Columbian health-care workers, 900 in the Interior Health region, were terminated in 2021 for being unvaccinated. B.C. was one of the last jurisdictions in the world to drop its COVID-19 vaccine mandate for health-care workers.
Henry says after reviewing all the data she is confident the province has reached the point where there is no longer a need for the public health emergency and all requirements that remain can be lifted.
She says wastewater indicators and testing data show COVID-19 has levelled off and the number of people in intensive care and in hospitals is lower and stable.
Henry says the level of protection provided by vaccines and hybrid immunity is also helping to protect the population.
Health Minister Adrian Dix says health workers fired due to previous orders can apply to fill available positions, although they must provide their immune status for certain pathogens, including COVID-19.
With files from The Canadian Press
