Seniors advocate calls for COVID-19 boosters, more staff at B.C. care facilities
VICTORIA — British Columbia’s seniors advocate says long-term care and assisted living residents are three and a half times more likely to contract COVID-19 and 33 times more likely to die of the disease.
Isobel Mackenzie’s figures come from a report released today that recommends expanding paid sick-leave provisions for staff, hiring more registered nurses, eliminating shared rooms and increasing the scope and frequency of COVID-19 testing.
Two of her key recommendations — mandatory vaccines for all staff and booster shots for residents — are in progress.
Mackenzie’s report covered the pandemic period from March 2020 to February 2021, recording 4,484 COVID-19 cases at care facilities and 782 deaths.