Vaccine Information from Government of Alberta
As we have just passed the one year mark since the first public health measures were announced, we have been notified by the Government of Alberta (GoA) today that health care providers who are involved in delivery of services to high-risk clients in the community or patients/residents of health care facilities/congregate settings, etc. will be eligible to schedule an appointment for the COVID-19 vaccine as part of the Phase 2C vaccine roll-out (start date TBD once Phase 2B is completed). Please refer to the Key Messages document provided by the Government of Alberta for details on who is eligible and what evidence is required to prove eligibility. Please note that there are also other situations that may qualify you or any staff you contract/employ for Phase 2B or 2C (e.g. office/support staff of regulated health professionals, eligible chronic condition, designated support person for resident of long-term care/supportive living, parent/guardian of a child with an eligible chronic condition); refer to the Key Messages document for more details.
NOTE: Once you are vaccinated, you are still required to follow all of the guidance in the ACOT COVID-19 practice guideline until we get direction from the Chief Medical Officer of Health that these guidelines can safely be eased. The Government of Alberta has also asked that you spread the word to any of your clients aged 16-64 with eligible underlying health conditions of their eligibility to apply once Phase 2B is announced. For further information on all of the stages of vaccine rollout, please go to https://www.alberta.ca/covid19-vaccine.aspx.
Reflections on Registration Renewal
By February 28, almost 2300 OTs renewed their registration one of ACOT’s three registers -General, Provisional or Courtesy. Thank you to all those who completed this before the due date.
What happens to those OTs who don’t complete their registration on time? Their registration is cancelled, plus the OT and their employer are notified of the cancellation. Over fifty OTs did not register on time this year and were required to stop working immediately. A similar number of OTs did not renew on time last year. These OTs are required to re-apply for registration with ACOT before they can return to work. There is a $150 reapplication fee on top of the regular registration fee, and applications must be accompanied by a current criminal and vulnerable sector record check. Applications can take up to 10 business days to process, due to the volume being submitted. To avoid the resulting disruption in service to your clients, always renew your ACOT registration before your permit expires on Feb 28/29 each year.
Each year some OTs indicate they did not receive their eNews with renewal reminders – note you are obliged to renew on time even if you don’t receive the reminders, so you may want to consider setting one for yourself in your calendar. Often eNews from ACOT is not received when OTs change workplaces without updating their contact information in ACOT’s system. Note ACOT relies on OTs to keep their contact information current with us. We recommend using a personal email account that won’t change if you change workplaces. If you or any of your OT colleagues are not receiving your eNews notices, first check your ACOT Profile to see which email address is listed and edit if required; you may need to adjust your email permission settings to allow emails from ACOT which can often get blocked because they contain links. You can also view all eNews sent by ACOT from the News Page of the ACOT website – this is a handy way to search for notifications from ACOT when your inbox is bogged down.