Weekly COVID-19 update June 3, 2021 A message from the Registrar Dear Colleagues,
Before I provide this week's update, it is with great sadness that I must inform you that COVID-19 has claimed the life of our colleague in Calgary, Dr. Trevor Wallace. You can read his obituary online here. On behalf of the ACAC, I extend our sincere condolences to the friends and family of Dr. Wallace.
As Albertans continue to receive their vaccines, the current forecast is that we may see Alberta’s Open for Summer plan reach Stage 2 of 3 on June 10. Regardless of when Stage 2 starts, Stage 1 officially started on June 1, 2021. Stage 1 and 2 have no material impact on your practice requirements. Current indications are that the easing and elimination of restrictions, such as business closures or occupancy limits, is separate from public health measures, such as wearing a face mask.
The ACAC has sought clarification from Alberta Health what the impacts of Stage 3 will be on chiropractors. We, along with other regulated health professions, will be meeting with Alberta Health officials during the week of June 7. Any learnings from that meeting will be shared with you in a future COVID-19 update.
While I look forward to the day when we are no longer required to follow COVID-19 Public Health measures, that day is not yet here. For now, we all must continue to adhere to the ACAC COVID-19 Pandemic Practice Directive and all public health orders.
In last week’s COVID-19 update, we discussed responding to personal questions regarding vaccine status. Today’s update discusses the activity of asking patients for their vaccine status and what you can, and cannot do, when asking for this information from patients.
Sincerely, Dr. Todd Halowski ACAC Registrar
Can I and should I ask my patient for their vaccination status? Given that vaccinations are part of a patient’s health history, you may ask if your patient has received the COVID-19 vaccine. It would also be appropriate and important to ask if the patient has had COVID-19. The primary consideration when asking about vaccination status or history of infection with COVID-19 is: why do you want to know?
Before you ask your patients, consider the following:
Both of those are great reasons to understand the patient’s vaccination status or history of COVID-19 infection.
What not to do with patient vaccination status There are some anecdotal reports of regulated members attempting to connect patient symptoms and vaccine side effects after asking their patient’s vaccination status. Given that the ACAC is hearing about this activity from patients, our strong recommendation is that practitioners do not imply patient's symptoms are from the COVID-19 vaccine. This activity would be considered counselling on vaccinations and in addition to practicing outside of your scope of practice, you leave yourself exposed to regulatory complaint.
Vaccination status and COVID-19 screening While we have already touched on this topic, it bears repeating that the patient must be screened for COVID-19 symptoms regardless of whether or not they have received their vaccine. There is no need to ask patients their vaccination status as part of your screening.
This weekly, Thursday morning COVID-19 update provides non-urgent, yet important, information and answers questions posed by members as part of the ACAC’s ongoing efforts to keep members informed about public health responses to the pandemic. If you have questions related to policy, procedures, control measures, safety, or any other topic pertaining to effectively responding to COVID-19 in your practice, please send them to registrar@albertachiro.com.
The next update will be June 10, 2021.
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