(Reuters) – A healthcare network that operates several hospitals in Toronto said on Friday it would sack any staff members who are not fully vaccinated by the end of October.
The University Health Network (UHN), which includes the Toronto General hospital and the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, said employees who are not vaccinated by Oct. 8 will be placed on unpaid leave for two weeks. They will then be terminated if their vaccination status does not change by the end of the month.
Several Canadian companies have mandated in recent weeks that employees must be fully vaccinated by the fall in an effort to fight the Delta variant.
The federal government last week said it will soon require all federal public servants and many other workers to be vaccinated.
The health network said it had contacted over 900 staff members who hadn’t provided their vaccination status, adding that employees must have received their first dose by Sept 8.
(Reporting by Radhika Anilkumar in Bengaluru and Steve Scherer in Ottawa; editing by Jane Wardell)
