Updated Public Health Guidance: Employees with COVID-19 Symptoms Following Vaccination

The Ontario government recently updated its Public Health guidance for employees with COVID-19 symptoms within 48 hours of COVID-19 immunization.

The updated guidance is available via this link: Guidance for Screening Vaccinated Individuals (gov.on.ca)

The main intent is to provide guidance related to COVID-19 workplace screening for workers experiencing post-vaccine symptoms. This guidance does not apply to screening outside of workplaces.

This guidance document pertains only to workers who:

*Are required to be at work in-person; AND

* Have received a COVID-19 vaccine 48 hours prior to being at work (including day of vaccination, which is considered day 1); AND

*Do not have a known exposure to a confirmed COVID-19 case in the last 14 days.

Workers who have received a COVID-19 vaccine in the past 48 hours and are experiencing symptoms, and/or also have a known exposure to someone with confirmed COVID-19 in the last 14 days should not attend work in-person, and should self-isolate and be tested for COVID-19.

Workers who are advised to self-isolate due to an exposure to a COVID-19 case or for any other reason, should also be excluded from in-person work.