Unvaccinated teachers in Ontario to be tested twice a week for COVID, some at pharmacies
Unvaccinated school and child-care staff will have to take two rapid COVID-19 tests a week - with some having to trek to a local pharmacy for the next two weeks as the program rolls out across the province, the Star has learned.
In a memo sent to directors of education late Friday - just days before the school year starts for most boards - deputy education minister Nancy Naylor said that as required by the province's chief medical officer of health, schools and child care programs must require that individuals who are not fully vaccinated submit to regular rapid antigen screening," and that individuals subject to testing requirements must provide verification of negative test results at least two times per week as an added measure to protect schools from the risk of COVID-19."
Naylor goes on to say that while more details will be provided, some boards will receive take-home rapid antigen screening kits and that all should be supplied with them by Sept. 20.
Those without kits are to direct staff to local pharmacies that have been authorized to offer the testing free of charge starting Tuesday Sept. 7 through for two weeks - to be done outside of work hours.
School boards will now rush to implement the testing plan as classes begin after Labour Day, said Cathy Abraham, president of the Ontario Public School Boards' Association.
It would certainly have been helpful to have received this information sooner," she said.
The association and several of our member boards called on the government weeks ago to take action on this important issue. School boards have been working extremely hard to ensure all appropriate health and safety protocols are in place for the start of the school year - on top of all of the normal demands for the return to in-person learning."
However, she added, hopefully these measures will help encourage anyone who is vaccine-hesitant to get vaccinated."
The testing policy also applies to private schools, which have been told to pick up take-home kits from local chambers of commerce.
In the Friday memo, obtained by the Star, Naylor said that any staffers who aren't vaccinated will have to confirm a negative test result prior to the employee/visitor entering the workplace."
Staff will have to wait on site for the results, and if positive will need to have a follow-up PCR (or molecular) test and also self-isolate.
Naylor said the province is also working to simplify the process with an app that can monitor rapid test results.
Staff who don't have a valid medical reason for refusing vaccination are also required to complete an online education session, outside of work hours, according to a previous email sent Sept. 2.
That email, which included a guide for boards on COVID-19 immunization policies, said depersonalized, statistical information" must be submitted to the ministry so it can track, among other things, how many staff have gotten their shots.
Staff must complete a formal attestation" indicating they are fully vaccinated - with proof - or provide a medical note indicating why they are not. A third option is for an employee to complete an online vaccination education session.
Individuals will be expected to fulfill testing requirements outside of working hours," the ministry has said of unvaccinated staff.
Last month, Ontario's chief medical officer of health, Dr. Kieran Moore, announced that teachers and health-care workers, among others, would need to be fully vaccinated for work.
However, he also said that those who aren't able to be vaccinated for medical reasons, or refuse to be, could instead face regular COVID-19 tests instead.
Moore has previously said that with most schools resuming in-person classes next week, the number of COVID cases could rise.
The province has already seen a dramatic increase in cases because of the more contagious Delta strain that is circulating.
Ontario students are returning to in-person learning after having been out of class more than any others across the country - some 26 weeks since the pandemic began.
More than three-quarters of teens have had at least one shot of the COVID vaccine. No COVID vaccines are currently approved for elementary school students under 12.
The Toronto District School Board has also asked that the COVID vaccine be made mandatory for all of its students over 12.
Kristin Rushowy is a Toronto-based reporter covering Ontario politics for the Star. Follow her on Twitter: @krushowy