Calgary's Catholic community won't receive exemption letters from the church
A Calgary bishop says members of the Roman Catholic Diocese will not sign off on any letters exempting parishioners from receiving a COVID-19 vaccination.
William T. McGrattan, bishop of Calgary, made the statement in a letter posted online last week.
https://www.catholicyyc.ca/blog/bishops-pastoral-letter-re-exemption-from-covid-19-vaccination
In it, he highlighted a need to "safeguard the common good" and "to promote the safety of others" by protecting public health.
One of those measures in many provinces, including Alberta, has included the concept of mandatory vaccination, McGrattan said, but it's also brought on questions of human rights.
"This has resulted in the Diocese and the parishes receiving from members of the faithful the request for letters of exemption from the mandatory vaccination based on the grounds of religious belief," he wrote in the letter, dated Sept. 22.
"While the Diocese respects the freedom of a person's individual conscience as the Church teaches, the Church and her ministers cannot objectively attest to or endorse a person’s process of discernment in coming to their decision of conscience. Therefore, the Diocese and the parishes will not be issuing any letters of exemption from vaccination."
'VERY FEW MEDICAL EXEMPTIONS'
Both the province and Alberta Health Services (AHS) have outlined the policy for medical exemptions for COVID-19 vaccinations on their websites.
Their documentation shows there are a handful of conditions granting a medical exemption letter, provided a physician or nurse practitioner writes it.
They include:
- An anaphylactic reaction following a first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and future doses are contraindicated;
- Developing a severe adverse effect following immunization – i.e. Guillain-Barre syndrome, acute disseminated encephalomyelitis and;
- An anaphylactic reaction to a component of the COVID-19 vaccine that restricts administration of any of the available vaccines in Canada.
The Alberta Chief Medical Officer's office says deferrals are also available for Albertans, but only under certain conditions such as the development of myocarditis or a serious adverse effect like Bell's palsy following a first dose.
Vaccination is also deferred for Albertans who experienced an anaphylactic reaction and are still waiting for an assessment from an allergist.
Albertans receive vaccines at a mass COVID-19 vaccination clinic in Calgary, Alta., Thursday, April 22, 2021.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh
"In existing guidance there are very few absolute medical exemptions for COVID-19 vaccination; this finding was consistent across jurisdictions," AHS said in its documentation published earlier this month.
"The most prominent potential exemption is related to severe allergy/anaphylaxis to the COVID-19 vaccine itself, which is noted in all documents; however the guidance on subsequent steps for these individuals varied."
AHS says, according to statistics from the Center for Disease Control, that there were 11.1 cases of anaphylaxis per 1 million doses of vaccine administered in the U.S.
Religious exemptions are not presently included in Alberta's immunization policy.
According to the latest data from Alberta Health, 5,963,532 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in Alberta. More than 82 per cent of Albertans, aged 12 and up have received a first dose and 73.4 per cent of that same group have two doses.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
'Anything to win': Trudeau says as Poilievre defends meeting protesters
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of welcoming 'the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists,' after the Conservative leader was photographed meeting with protesters, which his office has defended.
Fair in Ontario, flurries in Labrador: Weather systems make for an erratic spring
"It's a bit of a complicated pattern; we've got a lot going on," said Jennifer Smith of the Meteorological Service of Canada in an interview with CTVNews.ca on Wednesday. "[As is] typical with weather, all of these things are related."
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Police tangle with students in Texas and California as wave of campus protest against Gaza war grows
Police tangled with student demonstrators in Texas and California while new encampments sprouted Wednesday at Harvard and other colleges as school leaders sought ways to defuse a growing wave of pro-Palestinian protests.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
'My stomach dropped': Winnipeg man speaks out after being criminally harassed following single online date
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.