Your digest

Canadian Blood Services moving towards a fully vaccinated workplace

Canadian Blood Services is always monitoring the COVID-19 landscape and related vaccination data. Scientific data demonstrates vaccines to be the most effective way to reduce the risk of COVID-19 and we extend our appreciation to all employees who have already been vaccinated. By doing so, you are protecting yourself, your family, colleagues and members of your community. 

Our organizational planning around employee safety at work is always a top priority; particularly today with regard to the COVID-19 pandemic and the future of our work. After extensive consultations and in consideration of the evolving pandemic outlook, we have decided to move towards a fully vaccinated workplace by late fall.

Once implemented, being fully vaccinated will be a condition of working for Canadian Blood Services. The policy will apply to all employees, as well as those volunteers and contractors who may be required to be onsite for any reason, at any time.  

Read more about the next steps of implementation of this policy and access links to resources on Connect.

Save the date: Next live townhall scheduled for Sept.28

Join us on Canadian Blood Services’ 23rd anniversary, Tuesday, Sept. 28 at 1 p.m. ET for the next live Q&A with our CEO. As always, Graham and a panel of experts will be ready to answer your questions around vaccines, return to office and more. We’ll be sharing more details in the coming weeks about the panel and theme for next month’s town hall, but in the meantime, we encourage you to send your questions to communications@blood.ca with the subject line “TOWNHALL.” We look forward to seeing you there!

Managing your anxiety in a post-lockdown workplace

If you’ve been feeling anxious about what a post-lockdown workplace may look like, you’re not alone. Nearly a third of Canadians are feeling moderate to severe anxiety about returning to pre-pandemic routines, according to the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health.

Tomorrow, Aug. 25, at 12 p.m. ET, LifeSpeak (password: thrive) is hosting a live Ask the Expert web chat about managing anxiety in the post-lockdown workplace. Ask the Expert gives you real-time access, via a written Q&A web chat, to the world’s leading experts on topics that affect your life every day — on a completely anonymous and confidential basis. Register here using password “thrive”.

Question of the day: Will donors be required to prove they are vaccinated under Canadian Blood Services’ new policy?

At this time, we are focusing on employees, volunteers and third-party contractors.

A fully vaccinated workplace, along with continued adherence to our current COVID-19 measures such as PPE and physical distancing, will help provide extra protection to everyone, regardless of donor vaccination status.

In addition, the latest donor survey revealed that 97 per cent of our donor base is fully vaccinated, which provides extra assurance that our donor events are low-risk environments.

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About your digest

This digest highlights the latest policy and employee support measures, resources to help you manage our new reality and original content like articles and videos to remind us that what we do matters.  No access to email? No problem — all this information and more can be found on blood.ca/employees from any device, no login required.     

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Have questions? Check out blood.ca/employees or email us at communications@blood.ca