In this episode, Dr. Joanna Moser and Dr. Jeff Rath speak about the challenges faced by unvaccinated health care workers in Alberta and why they should be allowed back on the job. Dr. Moser has been on a leave of absence since December 13th, 2019, and Jeff Rath has been representing her since.
00:00:59.880I'm Melanie Rizdin with the Western Standard. Thanks for joining me this evening. We're going to be speaking with lawyer Jeffrey Rath as well as Dr. Joanna Moser. She is a doctor. And let's just get them into the conversation right now. Joanna, why don't you introduce yourself? Let us know what it is that you do and where you practice.
00:01:21.880So I'm an anesthesiologist at the South Health campus in Calgary. I also will do locum work for anesthesiology at the Red Deer Regional Hospital. I'm a clinical assistant professor with the University of Calgary and I do teaching and research as well.
00:01:41.800Okay. And Jeff is a lawyer in Alberta. Why don't you tell us a little bit about your practice, Jeff, and what you've been busy tackling over these last months?
00:01:56.220Well, I work as a constitutional lawyer. I've basically spent my entire career suing governments, the government of Alberta, the government of Canada, various other provincial governments with regard to violations of constitutionally protected rights.
00:02:12.300So needless to say, we find ourselves in the thick of everything that's going on right now. And we're representing Dr. Moser with regard to her claims against AHS and the government of Alberta and all the various constitutional violations that she's suffered at the hands of her and you and AHS.
00:02:33.600Right. So, Dr. Moser, let's just chat a little bit about your situation right now.
00:02:42.300Well, my situation right now is that I've been put on a leave of absence since December 13th because I cannot be vaccinated.
00:02:51.100I have a legitimate medical reason that I'm not vaccinated. I have had two of my physicians report and write letters to AHS saying that I cannot be vaccinated.
00:03:03.540And the reason being is because of severe anaphylactic reactions to vaccines in the past, as well as an underlying medical condition.
00:03:11.160They have basically said, and one of my physicians has known me for over nine years, and she has said that if I take this vaccine, at the best case scenario, I could end up in ICU and distributive shock and die or be very sick.
00:03:28.820And at the worst case scenario, actually die and lose my life.
00:03:31.740And so, for this reason, I have followed my medical doctor's opinion and have decided to not be vaccinated for COVID-19.
00:03:39.480Now, you received a letter. I mean, it was just last week that AHS announced they were going to allow medical workers back who have been unvaccinated or not vaccinated at this time,
00:03:56.020because they are wanting to make sure that the health care system doesn't get overwhelmed with the cases that are spreading quite rapidly with Omicron.
00:04:06.600So you did receive a letter from AHS. Is that correct?
00:04:11.060I have, yes. And it was a fairly recent letter.
00:04:15.480And I want to just say that AHS has made numerous changes to their policy since its introduction.
00:04:20.360They've been changing their deadlines for unvaccinated health care workers to the point where this off and on again decision to disallow or allow health care workers to work has become abusive and traumatic and, frankly, quite tiresome.
00:04:33.620And now there's another change. And my question is, what will happen in March 2022 when AHS revisits their policy again?
00:04:41.240I really want to know how AHS has come up with this magic March date to reassess their policy.
00:04:46.120Like, will they decide at that time to end the rapid testing option of the unvaccinated health care workers and then proceed again with immediate action against us and report us to the College for Unprofessional Behavior?
00:04:57.540This uncertainty and the discrimination that AHS is displaying is very difficult to comprehend in our inclusive society.
00:05:07.160And, Melody, just to jump in here, like, you really need to get a sense of how stupid all of this is, right?
00:05:14.720So, they've actually initiated disciplinary proceedings against Dr. Moser because she told them and provided two letters from two different doctors that have said that if she takes the vaccine, it might kill her.
00:05:29.860So, they've actually instituted disciplinary proceedings on the basis that, one, she wouldn't disclose her vaccine status.
00:05:36.460Well, that's ridiculous because she told them throughout that she can't get vaccinated because she's deathly allergic, right?
00:05:43.560And then the second thing is, they're saying, well, unless you go see an allergist, right, that can only assess whether you're allergic to one or two of the ingredients in the vaccine, you know, we're not going to recognize your medical exemption and we're going to treat you as a disciplinary problem, you know, on a going-forward basis.
00:06:03.300I mean, this entire policy and this entire process is being run by a bunch of complete morons.
00:06:10.820And, to be clear, Dina Hinshaw, I was shocked the other day to see that she announced on Twitter that she isn't even properly vaccinated.
00:06:18.660She's had one shot of AstraZeneca, she's had one shot of Pfizer, and her booster was Moderna.
00:06:24.340So, we have Dina Hinshaw, who's unvaccinated, technically, conducting some medical experiment of her own with regard to these vaccines, completely off-label, running around threatening to discipline Dr. Moser because Dr. Moser is rightly concerned that if she's injected with these vaccines that she'll go in anaphylactic shock and die.
00:06:44.920I mean, I can't, you know, I can't even express, you know, my disgust at the complete incompetence of the management of AHS from burning you on down.
00:06:54.080And, let's not forget that Dina Hinshaw is on the executive committee.
00:06:57.960What was the letter stating for you? You had mentioned it was waiving something for you.
00:07:02.240Well, basically, the letter stated that if we agree to do rapid testing every 48 hours at our own expense, then AHS will waive the immediate action process against us.
00:07:17.240So, they were going to waive as of which date?
00:07:20.780Yeah, so, if we agreed to rapid test every 48 hours at our own expense, then we have to let them know that we are willing to do that by January 3rd, 2022, at which time then we could start working again January 10th, 2022, but that policy would be revisited in March.
00:07:41.620So, at this point, you know, I would like to comment on the rapid tests and their costs for healthcare workers, if it's okay with you.
00:07:53.820So, for unvaccinated healthcare workers, and I'm just averaging this because I've seen tests as low as $20 and tests as high as $50 per rapid test.
00:08:03.400So, for unvaccinated healthcare workers, the average cost for each rapid test through a pharmacy is approximately $30 each, and that's required every 48 hours.
00:08:13.620So, multiplied by 15 days, that equals approximately $450 for a 30-day period.
00:08:19.960And honestly, this is unaffordable for the average healthcare worker.
00:08:23.800Plus, that healthcare worker needs to arrange for and have the test done on their own personal time.
00:08:29.060And what happens if a healthcare worker, such as myself, is on call for a 24-hour period, and that test expires at midnight, and there's another eight hours left in the shift after midnight?
00:08:40.620Honestly, which pharmacy is open at midnight when you're at work, and how can you leave work on call and go get an updated rapid test?
00:08:49.740So, if an employer is making rapid testing a condition of employment, then shouldn't that employer be responsible for covering the cost of that rapid test and perform that rapid test on-site for convenience of that employee?
00:09:05.160And quite frankly, as we have seen from the latest stats published from late last week before the Christmas break, because they haven't updated their statistics as of today,
00:09:13.60080% of the new cases of COVID are in completely vaccinated individuals.
00:09:20.260And since December 13, 2021, which is 16 days ago, there have been only vaccinated healthcare workers allowed on AHS properly in their facilities, including hospitals.
00:09:32.100So, the unvaccinated have been actually put on unpaid leave of absence, and now there are multiple units on outbreak at the hospitals, which they're not reporting.
00:09:40.400So, how can they possibly blame the unvaccinated healthcare workers for these outbreaks when we actually haven't been present on-site for 16 days?
00:09:49.880Now, should there not be rapid testing implemented for all healthcare workers, vaccinated and the unvaccinated alike, to be allowed to come to work?
00:10:00.480Wouldn't this make more sense for a safer work environment?
00:10:02.880I mean, it is clear that infections are targeting everyone, and of course, the rapid tests have a high false positive and a high false negative rate, but they are the best we have at present.
00:10:13.840And if they are good enough for us unvaccinated to be able to work, then it should be equally applied to screen all healthcare workers.
00:10:20.180And just to jump in, Melanie, that's an important point, I think, from a legal perspective, because when you read all the responses that are coming out of these moronic hearing committees that have been set up by AHS to discipline doctors for not being vaccinated, right?
00:10:39.580They talk about the fact that there's a bona fide occupational requirement for the vaccines and for the testing, et cetera, right?
00:10:49.960Well, how can there be a bona fide occupational requirement for just the unvaccinated to be tested, right?
00:10:57.400The, it's really, it's clear with Omicron, especially you look at the Calgary Flames, 100% of them are double vaccinated, some of them are even triple vaccinated, and they've got, you know, more than 50% of the team is currently infected with COVID.
00:11:10.300It's clear the double vaccinated are now the ones that are spreading Omicron, they're the ones that are catching Omicron.
00:11:16.780There is no logical or bona fide occupational requirement for simply discriminating against the unvaccinated and only requiring the unvaccinated to be tested.
00:11:26.900So from a legal perspective, from an occupational health and safety perspective, there's no longer any bona fide reason for anybody to be vaccinated or anybody to be tested prior to going to work, unless they want to institute a program to test everybody.
00:11:42.340But of course, they don't want to do that because we're still living in this foolish world of, you know, the vaccinated are good, the unvaccinated are bad, and all the good little vaccinated kids got their lollipops, which is the freedom that they have to do whatever they want, whether it makes any sense or not.
00:11:58.280And AHS and Dina Hinshaw and the Kennedy government don't want to take all the good kids' lollipops away.
00:12:05.380But with Omicron right now, they're going to have to, and there's going to be a lot of, you know, there's going to be a lot of angry, virtuous vaccinated out there when they realize that they've been led down the garden path and have been injected with a substance that does absolutely nothing to protect them from this latest variant.
00:12:20.920Well, and I will say when I mentioned equal rapid testing for all healthcare workers to an AHS official and asked him to take this to the AHS policy makers above him, I was simply told that this isn't part of the policy and a blank stare.
00:12:36.860And when you ask questions about the policy or want to understand their reasons behind it or question the science in light of the new data, there is no engagement or response from AHS.
00:12:45.440They just say it's not part of their policy.
00:12:47.360AHS does not answer our questions, post them on the science of this experimental vaccine.
00:12:54.900And I will say, just going back to the cost of that testing, you know, for a physician, it's not necessarily, you know, problematic in terms of a financial burden, but it is certainly a financial burden for those unit clerks, the cleaning staff, the people that make less money.
00:13:11.700It's not equal and it's not fair and it's discriminatory.
00:13:14.000Well, we were talking a little bit as well about the numbers that are involved and how it's been reported that approximately 1,450 AHS workers, part-time and full-time, have been given the opportunity to return to work and vaccinated.
00:13:32.560However, that doesn't include the numbers of the casual staff and we know it's been disclosed to us here at the Western Standard that there's approximately 29,000.
00:13:43.560So close to 30,000, so close to 30,000 casual staff that nobody seems to be including in these numbers.
00:13:51.840We don't know what percentage of them are vaccinated.
00:13:54.520We don't know what percentage of them are not, which ones are not returning to work.
00:13:58.060So, so there's, there's definitely a larger amount of staff that is affected by this either way, that's not being reported on.
00:14:08.740And I think that, that is, makes it a little bit more difficult for people to really understand the true snapshot of how this is going to affect care in Alberta for, you know, for people in the province.
00:14:21.460It's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, I think it would be confusing and I think just, you know, missing a chunk of the information necessary to understand.
00:14:33.120But don't be, don't, don't, don't, don't, sorry, don't, don't think for a minute, Melanie, that AHS cares about the quality of care being provided to the citizens of Alberta.
00:14:42.640The day that Dr. Moser was put on a leave of absence, they were forced to put Red Deer on diversion for surgeries and for, and for the operating rooms in Red Deer.
00:14:54.140So if there was a multiple casualty event in central Alberta, there would have been patients that would have been, had to be put on airplanes or helicopters to get them down to Calgary or up to Edmonton.
00:15:04.280And people could have died simply because Verna, you thought it was more important to put Joanna Moser on an unpaid leave of absence than it was to fully staff the hospital in Red Deer.
00:15:21.380I find it very discouraging that AHS did not make this announcement publicly in the media or in a press conference before Christmas when their policy had changed again to fully inform the public about what is going on.
00:15:33.520And the mainstream media should be covering the full story equally, giving time to both sides.
00:15:39.460However, I find this is never the case.
00:15:41.720They only report one side of the story, and that's the story coming from AHS.
00:15:46.380And I also don't know if the government is getting the full story either because they are only getting their information from AHS.
00:15:52.780The government needs to start talking to the affected unvaccinated healthcare workers.
00:15:56.720They've never asked for our side of the story.
00:16:12.760And, Joanna, I, you know, I would agree with that sentiment that when it was released in a press release on Thursday, the 23rd,
00:16:22.220we brought the news forward on the Western Standard quite quickly as soon as we got our hands on that press release,
00:16:29.720but found it odd that it was not discussed verbally in the press conference, nor did we,
00:16:38.420I did some digging the following day and did not find many references to the fact that AHS had sort of backtracked and is now allowing unvaccinated staff back to work.
00:16:51.300It was, it was just not picked up by mainstream media.
00:16:54.340There was a couple of references to it, but it was a bit varied.
00:22:24.680It's like, oh, well, we're going to have these health care workers come back because we're afraid we might get overrun, you know, by Omicron.
00:22:31.960It's not out of concern for these people.
00:22:34.280It's not out of concern for the thousands and thousands of health care workers who literally risked their lives for all of us throughout, you know, the first wave of COVID.