PHSA dispels rumours of executives jumping COVID-19 vaccine queue

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – As COVID-19 vaccines were rolled out in B.C., rumours appear to have spread among Provincial Health Services Authority (PHSA) staff that the agency’s top brass had jumped the queue to get their shot before frontline workers.

But emails obtained by NEWS 1130 via a freedom of information request show how PHSA managers worked to dispel the gossip.

Ahead of a Jan. 13 town hall, a theme emerged among questions submitted anonymously by employees.

PHSA staff ask ‘avalanche’ of vaccine questions

“Pat, there really are an avalanche of questions on the vaccine!” Sheridan West, a human resources consultant, wrote to PHSA’s senior director of workplace health and safety, Patrick Whalen, in a Jan. 12 email.

The questions concerned the vaccines’ efficacy on new coronavirus variants, whether PPE protocols would change post-jab, and the immunization priority for certain departments.

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But one of the questions, given high priority by PHSA staff voting, asked: “Why did admin staff get the vaccine? It is not consistent with the policy.”

At the town hall, Whalen said some administrative staff received a shot at a Children’s & Women’s Health Centre (C&W) clinic when there were doses left over in open vials that had to be used before the end of the day.

“At the last minute, there may be a need to pull in some additional staff to make sure that all those vaccine doses are used,” Whalen said. “And it’s not always a perfect algorithm.”

He said “forward-facing” emergency room staff were prioritized over other administrators.

“We want to get every vaccine into an arm, and we want to get the right vaccine into the right arms as fast as possible,” added Dr. Réka Gustafson, PHSA’s vice president of public health and wellness.

Later in the town hall, PHSA’s vice president of people and culture, Jaci Edgeworth, responded to a question asking whether any executives or senior leaders had been vaccinated.

She said no executives had received a dose, but “there will be leaders who receive the vaccine if they’re in and out of some of the programs, or clinics, or areas that are part of the priority groups.”

“I appreciate it can be challenging to see others getting vaccinated before you, when we’re all impacted by the virus in our personal and professional lives,” Edgeworth said earlier in the town hall, “but we do ask that you please be patient and, as Dr. Henry said, ‘Be kind, calm and safe.’”

‘Private vaccination clinic’ for execs didn’t happen: PHSA

But rumours of queue-jumping executives persisted.

“Is it true that PHSA executives had their own private vaccination clinic and received vaccinations before many frontline workers?” an anonymous employee asked two weeks later, ahead of a C&W forum.

“You may wish to triple-check in advance that our statement that ‘no PHSA [executive leadership team] members have been vaccinated to date’ remains true,” communications director Caeli Murray wrote Whalen on Jan. 26.

Another communications staff member assured Whalen the rumours were false and executives remained “last in line” for shots.

If an executive team member had been vaccinated, Whalen said he wouldn’t be able to name them “for privacy reasons,” but none had done so, as far as he was aware.

“Everyone who has received a vaccination has received approval from the local clinic….so all staff vaccinated to date are in the clear….haven’t done anything inappropriate, etc.,” Whalen wrote (ellipses his).

PHSA staff ‘committed’ to following vaccine rules

Whalen addressed the same rumour again the next month at another PHSA town hall.

“Will PHSA investigate those (management and leadership) who received vaccines out of turn?” an employee had asked.

“We’ve had four clinics to date, and our fifth is today. We haven’t had any managers or leaders come through and receive vaccinations,” Whalen said at the Feb. 19 event. “And no individual or specific concerns have been brought forward about other leaders or managers in the workplace. So, I think that addresses that.”

On Tuesday, PHSA spokesperson Justine Ma said the agency’s executives “continue to be in compliance with the phases of B.C.’s COVID-19 immunization plan and with the specific guidance around timing.”

“We are committed to continuing to follow the MHO’s guidance regarding vaccination of all of our staff, medical staff and administrative teams, including the executive leadership team,” Ma wrote in an email. “However, please note that, as the vaccination process continues, we cannot release specific vaccination statuses – which is personal health information – about any of our staff, including members of our executive team.”