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Privately-owned long-term care home staff have until mid-October to get vaccinated

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Barrie, Ont. -

Staff at some of Ontario's biggest privately-owned long-term care homes will be expected to get a COVID-19 vaccine or be placed on unpaid leave.

Health experts fear infection rates will surge in the fall, fueled by the Delta variant, prompting the operators of Revera Living and long-term care giants Chartwell and Sienna Living to make vaccinations mandatory for staff.

In a statement to CTV News, Sienna Living said, "The fourth wave of COVID-19 is here, with cases rising across the country. Variants of the virus, such as Delta and other evolving variants like Lambda, are highly transmissible and continue to pose significant risk to seniors, people with health issues and those who have not yet been fully vaccinated.

We are pleased to say that 89.4 per cent of our team members have at least one dose of the vaccine, and 84 per cent have already received both doses. In light of this, we do not expect any impact on staffing levels. In the weeks ahead, we will continue to remove barriers to vaccination for our team members, including through ongoing education sessions, one-on-one conversations and offering paid time for vaccination appointments."

Chartwell Retirement Residences said 92 per cent of its long-term staff members had received at least one dose of the vaccine.

Revera Living did not provide its vaccination data.

According to the province, 15 residents of Mackenzie Place in Newmarket, operated by Revera Living, died after 80 of the home's 90 seniors became infected with COVID-19 in April 2020.

Chartwell Aurora had a dozen COVID-19-related deaths, while Sienna Living, which operates Bradford Valley and Owen Hill Care Communities, lost 27 residents, according to provincial data.

The Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit said there were 51 outbreaks in long-term care homes across the region, resulting in 112 deaths, 70 of whom were residents at Barrie's Roberta Place.

While unvaccinated long-term care staff will have until Oct. 12 to get their shots, seniors' homes residents will receive a third dose of the vaccine for added protection against the Delta variant.

The health unit confirms there hasn't been a COVID-19-related death inside a long-term care home in Simcoe Muskoka in six months.

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