The United Health Care Workers of BC has launched a Class Action lawsuit against Dr. Bonnie Henry, British Columbia’s Provincial Health Officer, asserting that mandatory vaccination orders have resulted in significant harm to unionized health care workers. 

The lawsuit contends that Dr. Henry acted without adequate consideration of long-term safety data, specifically citing Pfizer-BioNTech’s Phase 3 clinical trials. 

The COVID vaccine mandate remains in place for BC healthcare workers.

The lawsuit emphasizes data released in November 2020 from Pfizer’s “Study 1,” which indicated that of 18,198 individuals in the vaccination group, 26.7% reported adverse reactions.

Furthermore, the legal action points to updated results from Pfizer’s Phase 3 clinical trials on April 1, 2021, known as “Study 2.” The lawsuit states that out of 21,923 individuals in the vaccination group, 23.9% had a “related adverse event.”

The union alleges that Dr. Henry overlooked this data when implementing the vaccination mandate, creating a foreseeable and unreasonable risk of harm to health care workers. 

The lawsuit further argues that the mandate resulted in “significant economic deprivation and emotional trauma” for unionized health care workers, many of whom were placed on leave without pay or terminated for non-compliance.

Failed monographs 

From a legal basis, the suit contends that “The Provincial Health Officer had no basis in fact to justify the Order as a measure to prevent transmission of COVID-19,” pointing out that  “at the time the Policy was enacted all Health Canada approved COVID-19 vaccinations had failed product monographs.” 

Noting that the product monograph of the Pfizer vaccine does not have any information related to the transmission of COVID-19, and how prevention of viral transmission isn’t an approved indication for Comirnaty, “…the Plaintiffs plead that the Public Health Officer cannot claim Comirnaty prevents viral transmission of COVID-19 to other people,” the lawsuit states.

The union further asserted that Henry either “recklessly or willfully ignored the reality of the vaccine,” contributing to the foreseeable losses experienced by health care workers.

Last week, the Conservative Party of BC called for Premier David Eby to fire Henry for her failure to lift the vaccine mandate on healthcare workers amid the province’s staffing crisis.