‘Misnomer:’ Sask. doctors say vaccine exemption letters not an alternative to COVID shots

The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Saskatchewan is providing guidance for its members to clear up some misunderstandings about patients seeking vaccine exemption letters.

The problem lies with the term “exemption” as it relates to physicians documenting contraindications to receiving a COVID-19 vaccination.

“The word ‘exemption’ is a bit of a misnomer,” said Dr. Karen Shaw, the registrar at the college. “This letter that physicians provide to document these contraindications doesn’t exempt the person.”

The self-regulating body sent a letter to its members with some guidance on how to deal with requests for COVID-19 vaccination exemptions with more people seeking a doctor’s note following the province’s plans to implement a vaccine passport system by Oct. 1.

“This would imply that the physician is declaring a patient free from an obligation or liability due to their unvaccinated status, which is not the purpose nor intent of such a note,” the letter signed by the college’s deputy registrar, Dr. Werner Oberholzer, said of people looking to be exempt from any public health orders in place.

Shaw and the college are making it clear that a doctor’s note does not function as a clever workaround to avoiding any Health Canada-approved COVID-19 vaccine.

“It doesn’t overrule any of the requirements that we have in place,” Shaw said.

Instead, the letter can be presented to any business, agency or organization asking for the letter to consider how an unvaccinated person can be accommodated.

“In appropriate circumstances, a physician may provide a letter to the patient to state that they have a contraindication to the COVID-19 vaccination, but they have to inform the patient that it is not considered a document which would permit them to have the same privileges which vaccinated persons have,” the letter read.

The letter reminds physicians there are two recognized contraindications to a vaccine like confirming (preferably through an immunologist or allergist) a severe allergy or anaphylactic reaction to a previous COVID-19 vaccine dose that cannot be mitigated, or a diagnosed episode of myocarditis/pericarditis after getting an mRNA vaccine.

Any note must include the reason a person cannot be vaccinated followed by a description of the contraindication and the time frame in which it would apply.

Shaw is hoping education for physicians and patients alike will prevent people unnecessarily seeking a letter.

“Hopefully, a lot of time will not be taken up that isn’t necessary,” she said.

“To have appointments taken up for people who are requesting things that the physicians cannot ethically provide is a waste of their time and the physicians’ time.”

Shaw will be present at Thursday’s virtual Saskatchewan Health Authority town hall to answer any questions about vaccine exemption letters.