Fully vaccinated Toronto nurse fears losing job due to bad vaccine

The Russian vaccine has been given to millions of people around the world but has yet to be officially approved by the World Health Organization (WHO) or Health Canada.

Toronto’s University Health Network (UHN), which includes Toronto General Hospital, demanded that all employees be fully immunized, but Varaka said her employer told her her two doses didn’t count.

“I was shocked,” said Varaka, 43, when he first realized a few weeks ago that he was in danger of losing his job as a nurse.

“I didn’t believe this was happening.”

For Varaka, a cancer survivor, the only solution to keeping his job seems to be to get two more doses of an approved vaccine quickly. But he is wary of the health implications of doing it so early, he said.

Many other international students and workers who have been vaccinated overseas may have to make equally difficult choices as various immunization mandates are introduced in workplaces and institutions across the country.

In the case of UHN Toronto, for example, the teaching organization typically welcomes physicians from all over the world for internships.

“I thought I was doing a good thing”

UHN’s vaccine policy was explained in an email to employees in late August, Varaka said. To qualify as vaccinated, an employee must have received two doses of a WHO-approved vaccine by October 8.

Without it, the employee would be put on short-term leave, followed by dismissal if he still doesn’t meet the criteria, the email said.

In the spring, however, Varaka traveled to Russia to care for his ailing father.

At the time, he says, he knew he could get a dose of a COVID-19 vaccine in Canada, but the timing of the second injection was uncertain, potentially with a delay of several months.

This is why Varaka said that he and his roommate and friend Vlad Bobko, who is also Russian-Canadian, decided it was better to get two doses of Sputnik V.

The men were to be in Russia for two months.

“[Prime Minister] Justin Trudeau mentioned that the best vaccine is the one that is available… and for us it was the availability of two doses of vaccine, ”said Bobko, 45, from their home in Toronto.

Varaka said he did a lot of research on vaccines and spoke with a doctor in Russia.

“I thought I was doing a good thing,” he said in an interview.

“I get vaccinated, and when I come back I protect my patients. But it turns out to be just the opposite.”

Sputnik V is not on UHN’s list of “accepted” vaccines because it has not been approved by Health Canada. It has also not been cleared for emergency use by the WHO. The global agency has been examining Russia’s bid for months.

A spokesperson for the University Health Network said in an emailed statement to the CBC that only vaccines approved by the WHO will be accepted so that a person can be classified as “fully vaccinated.”

“We provide care for a large number of immunocompromised patients,” the statement said. “It needs to be as safe a place as possible for our patients and staff. We are currently 95% vaccinated and we are aiming for 100%.”

The CBC made several requests for an interview with a representative of UHN. When asked via email whether Varaka would be fired if he did not meet vaccination requirements on time, a spokesperson wrote that UHN does not comment on individual employees.

Request for regular tests or more time

Varaka said he asked for special consideration: regular COVID-19 testing, or a six-month grace period to keep his job before receiving injections of an approved vaccine.

He said the six-month gap was suggested to him by the Gamaleya Institute, the makers of Sputnik, who recommended that he give him more time before rolling up his sleeve.

It has now been three months since he received his second blow in Moscow.

But Varaka said his employer told him immediate revaccination was his only option and that he could not get an extension.

“I am not against the vaccine policy. I fully support it,” Varaka said.

“I feel like I’m vaccinated, but whatever is going on now, it’s just absurd to me. I feel very, very sad and I feel betrayed because of it.”

In a statement, the Nurses Association of Ontario, which represents Varaka, also said it believes Varaka’s options are limited.

When asked by the CBC about the matter, the ONA wrote that it “has a duty to represent members under the Ontario Labor Relations Act and that the ONA orders members to seek professional medical advice on matters related to vaccination and their health ”.

Vaccines and workplaces

How to treat Canadians who have received vaccines abroad has been a challenge for facilities in Canada.

Memorial University of Newfoundland, for example, has established a committee to determine how to deal with students and staff who refuse vaccines, as well as incoming international students who may have received vaccines but still do not meet the criteria for vaccination. university to qualify as vaccinated.

Memorial has an immunization mandate that requires all students and staff to be fully immunized with a WHO-approved vaccine. Students will need to comply by October in order to attend classes on campus.

Rod Russell, a professor of virology and immunology at Memorial, who is on the committee, said the university has agreed to adopt a vaccination policy that allows accommodations.

This means, for example, that if a staff member refuses to be vaccinated or has received a vaccine that does not meet the standard, they may have the option of working from home or in an isolated office. A student in a similar situation would be prohibited from attending classes in person but could still live on campus.

Russell expects around 2,000 international students at Memorial this year, many of whom could be affected by the university’s immunization mandate.

Russell told CBC News the decision to make accommodations attempts to strike a balance between complying with government regulations while ensuring people don’t get caught.

“We will find another way to monitor them.”

He said that some sort of accommodation, such as routine testing, should be an option for people in Varaka’s situation.

Safety of revaccination

Angela Rasmussen, a virologist at the University of Saskatchewan, said the revaccination option offered to Varaka is “probably safe”.

She said she received two doses of Pfizer this summer after receiving the Johnson & Johnson single-injection vaccine in the United States in the spring.

Like Russell, she acknowledges that research on the subject is still limited, but said she believes there is enough evidence to suggest the vaccine mix is ​​safe.

Some immunocompromised Canadians are even encouraged to obtain a third dose vaccine to strengthen their immunity.

WATCH | Tam on those who should consider receiving a 3rd dose of vaccine:

Public health officials recommend third dose of COVID vaccine for immunocompromised Canadians

Chief Public Health Officer Dr Theresa Tam said a third dose of a COVID vaccine is recommended for Canadians who are mildly or severely immunosuppressed and could help them build their immunity to the virus. 2:34

“It’s anecdotal … but people have different mix and match [vaccines], and I haven’t heard of anyone having serious side effects yet, ”Rasmussen said.

Nonetheless, Rasmussen calls Varaka’s experience “the downside of vaccination warrants.”

“Vaccination mandates are generally very good, but we usually don’t face this problem where people are fully vaccinated and then have to prove vaccination from a country other than where they were vaccinated.”

It is a disadvantage that some Canadians were faced withbecause some international jurisdictions have been slow to bless Canada’s mixed approach to immunization.

Rasmussen says that in cases like Varaka’s, there should be a medical exemption process.

Varaka said he had no other options when questioning both his employer and his union about his case. After months of treating patients with COVID-19 in difficult conditions in intensive care, this is particularly difficult to take, he said.

“It’s so upsetting. I can’t believe it.”