Disability support workers and in-home and community aged care workers are to face a COVID-19 vaccination mandate as the ACT Chief Health Officer prepares to sign a new Public Health Direction.
Announcing the vaccine mandate, Minister for Health, Rachel Stephen-Smith said the new Public Health Direction would require workers in those settings to be vaccinated in order to work and/or provide in-home care or services.
Ms Stephen-Smith said the decision to introduce mandatory vaccinations to disability support and community aged care workers was supported by recommendations from the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee, including the creation of national definitions.
“Staff working across these sectors will be required to receive their first vaccine dose by no later than 1 November and be fully vaccinated by 29 November,” Ms Stephen-Smith said.
“Although we have very high vaccination rates in the ACT and have worked hard to ensure people with disability and older people have every opportunity to be vaccinated, it is important that those providing care in higher risk settings also have the highest possible level of vaccination,” she said.
“Most eligible Canberrans have eagerly been getting vaccinated, but Commonwealth data indicate that rates are not as high among disability support workers.”
Ms Stephen-Smith said the decision aligned vaccination requirements for the ACT’s disability support and community aged care workers with those for staff in residential aged care facilities, hospitals, schools and early childhood education and care settings.
Minister for Disability, Emma Davidson said the Public Health Direction would mean more confidence for people with disability, more certainty for the sector and would keep more at-risk Canberrans protected as restrictions eased.
“The disability and aged care sectors provide a lot of essential support for many people and play an important role to support their individual needs to make Canberra a more inclusive place,” Ms Davidson said.
“Some of the people they support have felt uncomfortable asking for a worker who is fully vaccinated so this measure will provide more confidence in the sector and the organisations they access,” she said.
