Put front-line justice and social service workers on vaccination priority list, says AUPE president
EDMONTON – Front-line government employees in the Solicitor General and social service systems are at high risk of contracting H1N1 influenza and should be on the priority list for early vaccination, says the president of the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees.
Like health care workers, Correctional employees, probation officers, provincial Sheriffs, child protection workers, youth care workers, addictions counselors, nurses in Correctional facilities and many others face higher-than-average risk of contracting the disease because of the nature of the population with which they work, said AUPE President Guy Smith.
“These public employees need to be available to keep the system operating in the event of a major health crisis,” said Smith.
“These AUPE members work in close proximity with many people who have immune systems compromised from the effects of addictions and health problems,” he said.
“Many of the inmates and other clients we work with don’t live a healthy lifestyle and they’re not in the best of health,” observed Cec Cardinal, Chair of AUPE’s Local 003, which represents Correctional and Regulatory employees of the provincial government.
“This puts the people we work with at a high risk of infection, and in turn it puts our members at risk,” Cardinal said.
“We know that some of the inmates in our facilities are being treated for the H1N1 virus now,” he said. “It only makes sense that our front-line workers get protection from this disease.”
Conditions in remand centres and other Correctional facilities, as well as youth care centres and individual residences where the local’s members must work, can be crowded and encourage the easy transmission of infections, Cardinal noted.
“The services our members provide are essential to public safety and the wellbeing of the clients and inmates they work with,” Smith said. “If these employees get sick there will be a shortage of trained people who can do their jobs.
“It seems clear that these public employees are essential workers who should be on the priority list for quick inoculation,” he said.
Public employees in high-risk areas need to know the details of Alberta Health Services’ plans for getting the vaccine to them, Smith added.
“At present, we know that inoculating front-line health care workers, pregnant women and people with existing medical conditions is a high priority, as it should be,” he said.
“We need to know more about the health system’s priorities, however. We feel strongly that front-line public employees likely to come in contact with this virus should have a high priority for vaccination,” he concluded.
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For more information, contact:
Guy Smith, President, AUPE, 780-930-3301 or 780-265-2294 (cellular phone)
Cec Cardinal, Chair, AUPE Local 003 (Correctional and Regulatory Services), 403-462-1717 (cellular)
David Climenhaga, Communications Director, AUPE, 780-930-3311 or 780-717-2943 (cellular phone)