VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – Only about half of BC’s health care workers have had their flu shot.

Earlier this year, BC’s chief medical health officer declared that all health care workers would be required to get flu shots or wear a mask.

Health Minister Margaret MacDiarmid is surprised that so many workers have not been immunized thus far.

“There are jurisdictions in the US where 98 per cent of health care providers are immunized. We would really like to get much closer to that. Our numbers are not great here in BC,” she notes.

And what repercussions await workers who will neither get a shot nor wear a mask?

“Steps will have to be taken if people won’t cooperate. We are talking about patient safety. That is our top priority and must be our top priority,” says MacDiarmid.

Just this past week, the Canadian Medical Association Journal threw its support behind mandatory flu shots for hospital employees.