Canada's hospital network threatens to sack employees unvaccinated at end of October

Picture credit: Reuters

Toronto: A healthcare network that operates several hospitals in Toronto, Canada declared that 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, according to news agency Reuters.

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.

Meanwhile, Canada is considering taking in additional Afghan refugees on behalf of the United States or other allies if asked to do so, Immigration Minister Marco Mendicino said on Friday.

"We should keep the door open to all possibilities," Mendicino said in an interview.

Canada has already evacuated nearly 1,000 vulnerable Afghan nationals to date.

(With inputs from news agency Reuters)