Mom staying at Ronald McDonald House Vancouver defends vaccine mandate

A mother whose child is battling brain cancer says she’s outraged after seeing a fellow parent staying at Ronald McDonald House oppose a vaccine mandate.

Liz Kemp is one of many people who saw a video making the rounds on social media — where a father confronted staff at the charity, arguing he and his son would be evicted over his refusal to get the shot.

She says people have every right to question policy, but thinks this family has gone several steps beyond that.

“To film it and to do it simply to post when your arguments are based in ignorance, you tend to use volume. And that’s frustrating in this situation where people are just trying to keep their kids alive.”

She says it’s difficult to understand why this family wouldn’t do everything possible to keep these kids safe — which in her view includes getting vaccinated. She says seing the video left her “saddened” and “frustrated.”  

“The Ronald McDonald House … is set up to support families in what many of them are going through is the worst time in their life. And they have done nothing but go leaps and bounds and hurdles to protect the children and the families at the Ronald McDonald House in Vancouver,” Kemp says. 

Related Article: Ronald McDonald House to implement mandatory vaccine policy 

“When we arrive at the house, there are rules and regulations that we have to agree to follow to keep the family safe. And for the greater good of all the families and the children at the house,” she says.

Ronald McDonald House issued a statement to CityNews this week, saying if a family refuses to get everyone over the age of five vaccinated by the deadline, its family services team and social workers will work on finding alternate housing. The new vaccine mandate comes into effect Jan. 31. That clarification came after the video was posted. In the video the staff member does not provide any suggestions that the organization will help the family find alternative accommodation. 

Ronald McDonald House now says families will not be forced out if they are not vaccinated by the end of the month.https://t.co/aJSLm38y8j pic.twitter.com/zDk7KeQi9V

— CityNews Vancouver (@CityNewsVAN) January 13, 2022

Kemp says she understands why the RMH made the decision to mandate vaccines, and in her view it is in-line with public health orders requiring vaccines in health-care settings. 

“It makes sense. We have children there who have no immune systems. They are not just compromised, they have actually no immune system. And there’s common areas, everyone does wear masks, everyone tries to keep distance, but it just makes sense to require vaccinations at this point.”

Kemp’s son is in isolation after receiving a transplant so the family has not been able to leave the hospital over the last few days. 

Over the past few days, she says the environment has changed after the video of the father confronting staff was posted.

“It’s tense. It’s taken a place that is a refuge from everything that goes on over at [the hospital], a place where you can go to collect yourself, to give your child some moments of normalcy, and it’s really kind of sullied that.”

Since the pediatric vaccine was approved by Health Canada in November, an uptick in vaccinations for children between five and 11 has been slow. As of Jan. 10, 44 per cent of the eligible population in that age cohort has received their first dose in B.C. The province is urging parents to register their children to be immunized.

With files from Dean Recksiedler and Claire Fenton and Denise Wong