B.C.’s top doctor is updating the visitor policy at long term care homes to require that all visitors be fully vaccinated by Oct. 12, that’s next Tuesday.

Speaking Tuesday, Dr. Bonnie Henry said as of October 26, visitors to acute care settings will also need to show proof of full vaccination.

“We will of course have exceptions for certain situations, like palliative and end-of-life care,” Henry said, noting the expansion comes at ahead of respiratory illness coupled with challenges brought on by the Delta variant of COVID-19.

“The delta strain is way more transmissible and is causing severe illness in younger people. Vaccination protects you from this serious illness. We are seeing strong protection.”

As of Oct. 12, employees and volunteers in B.C. healthcare facilities settings will have to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Henry says staff who don’t have a vaccine card or a rare medical exemption past next Tuesday will be put on unpaid leave until seven days after they get a first dose of vaccine.

The previous first dose cut-off date was Sept. 13 but it was extended by four weeks.

“This is recognizing it’s important to have people who are vaccinated working in these high risk settings,” she said Tuesday. “We encourage every single person in long term care [to get vaccinated]. We know vaccination rates are high, but in some places they aren’t yet high enough.”

Henry also said Tuesday that anyone hired to work in healthcare facilities after Oct. 11 and before Oct. 26 will need to have at least one dose of vaccine and be at least seven days removed from their vaccine appointment. They will also have to commit to get their second dose within 35 days in order to stay employed.

Employees hired on Oct. 25 and later also have to be vaccinated to work in a facility, or to accompany a resident away from a facility.

“It’s not too late to get vaccinated and to be able to continue to work with additional precautions and testing,” Henry said, with Health Minister Adrian Dix later noting the vast majority of the 46,000 long term care staff in the province already have their COVID vaccines.

In Interior Health for example, data shows that 93 per cent of workers have at least one dose while 88 per cent are fully vaccinated.

In Fraser Health 97 per cent have a first dose, while 93 per cent are fully vaccinated, comparable to the 97 per cent with one dose and 94 per cent fully vaccinated in Vancouver Coastal Health.

On Vancouver Island, the vaccine rate is 95 per cent with a first dose and 91 per cent with a second, while Northern Health lags behind with 88 per cent of workers with first doses and 79 per cent second doses.

Meanwhile, Dr. Henry says the province is also expanding the list of people eligible for a third dose of a COVID vaccines with invitations going out in the coming days.

She says about 100,000 people who are considered moderately to severely immunocompromised will be able to get the so-called booster shot.

Last week, Henry extended third dose eligibility to long-term care residents in the province but did not include people who got mixed vaccine doses, who are currently ineligible to travel to countries that don’t recognize their particular combination of vaccines.

“For those who have taken AstraZeneca, who have taken the vaccine that was offered to you at the first opportunity, you did the right thing,” Henry said. “Your efforts have helped reduce the spread of this virus in B.C.”

She said her office is working to make sure that Canada has a single, internationally recognized vaccine passport that includes the recognition of mixed vaccines.

“We are working with colleagues in the UK, the European Union, and important sun destinations that many Canadians go to including Mexico and Caribbean where mixed doses have been a part of the immunization program in many countries…and these combinations are being recognized by many countries,” Henry said.

As for a vaccine mandate in schools, Health Minister Adrian Dix said the Education Ministry is “immediately bringing together a committee” to make a decision.

Dix said the government knows there is a desire for a vaccine mandate in schools, adding Education Minister Jennifer Whiteside is currently working to make sure the issue of mandatory vaccines for teachers and school staff is addressed.