TORONTO – Staff working in
Ontario’s correctional facilities should be a priority for H1N1
immunization, says the Ontario Public Service Employees Union.
OPSEU recently learned that
offenders in the province’s jails, detention centres, youth centres
and treatment centres are being immunized against swine flu, while
correctional staff working in the same facilities are not being
afforded the same protection.
“Offenders being admitted to our
facilities can carry a wide range of infectious diseases, including
the swine flu virus,” said OPSEU President Warren (Smokey) Thomas.
“Other than front-line health care workers, this group of employees
is at the highest risk of contracting the disease due to the closed
quarters they are working in.”
Thomas is urging the McGuinty
government to re-think their decision not to hold immunization
clinics for the staff in adult and youth facilities.
“Our members have to be on the
job 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” Thomas said. “An outbreak of
H1N1 could seriously jeopardize operations in these facilities, so
it only makes good sense to take precautions now.”
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