While seniors facilities were prioritized for Alberta's initial phase of the vaccine rollout, private facilities are still unsure when their seniors and caregivers will be getting their jabs.

Mark Drury, co-owner of the in-home care providers "Comfort Keepers," says they heard from the Ministry of Health some time ago, though he wishes they'd reach out again to provide an update.

According to Drury, after some homecare organizations were provided doses, those being larger contracted organizations like CBI Health Group, the provincial government seemed to move on with the rollout, seemingly leaving smaller private care providers behind.

Based on what the province has been saying about the next phase, he thinks it's likely to be soon, but at this point, there's no definitive answer.

"We may get done in phase two, but it's hard to tell. In phase two, it specifies people who are working with the vulnerable or people with severe outcomes. Well, some of our seniors don't have a risk of severe outcomes, but they're still senior."

Though seniors over the age of 75 can now register for their doses, not all seniors receiving at-home care are in that category.

Moreover, Drury says it's also vital for caregivers to be vaccinated as well.

"We have caregivers who have vulnerable people in their own homes, so as you can imagine, they don't want to be taking that possibility. Even if the senior is vaccinated, you can still be a carrier when you're vaccinated. If the senior has COVID, they're taking it through themselves to their family. We're trying to protect everybody."

He says Comfort Keepers has been doing their due diligence with regard to safety and health protocols, but without vaccinated caregivers, he fears they'll lose credibility.

"It's affected our bottom line for sure. We lost a lot of clients when it first kicked off and we've slowly been gaining them back over time. We've tried to be as good as we can with regard to PPE, et cetera, and we've had a great record... our caregivers have done an absolutely amazing job in really difficult circumstances. We just want to take it to the next step and make sure everybody's protected permanently."

 

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