Planning for the pandemic

CANADA: As more and more people are becoming infected with the H1N1 virus, businesses throughout the country are making and implementing plans to deal with the virus. One thing they won’t be able to offer, however, is workplace clinics to vaccinate their employees against the so-called swine flu.

In the province of Ontario, for example, employers have been permitted for a number of years to set up clinics to vaccinate workers against the seasonal influenza. But the province’s Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care says this is not possible with the H1N1 vaccine.

“What would happen with the seasonal flu programme is the workplaces would be able to order the seasonal flu vaccine directly from the manufacturer,” ministry spokesman David Jensen told the Canadian Press. “They’re not able to do that with H1N1.” Instead, Jensen said that the Public Health Agency of Canada will send the vaccine to individual provinces.

"We would be open to employees staying home and caring for their family," says Pat Tenney.

Employers are being asked to give their staff time off to get vaccinated at provincial vaccination clinics or to take their children to be vaccinated. “I think most employers recognize that this is not something that comes along every day,” says Ken Kobly, president and CEO of the Alberta Chambers of Commerce.

School closures in various parts of the country have also had an impact on working parents. Employer groups say they are willing to be flexible. “I’m sure if there was a need, then we would be very open to employees staying home and caring for their family and themselves and not infecting the workplace,” says Pat Tenney, executive director of the Lloydminister Chamber of Commerce .

Kobly says the most important concern for employees should be not to infect their colleagues. He is confident that other workers will help out if one of their colleagues is ill. “People’s prime responsibility when they become ill is, number one, not infect somebody else, and number two, get better,” Kobly comments. “If somebody is going to go home with H1N1, probably the least of what they should be concerned about is whether they’re preparing that report that they need to have done. I think everybody’s going to pitch in and they’re going to cover everybody [who is] off.”