Vancouver rally protesting removal of mask mandates held outside of Adrian Dix office

Protesters gathered in front of Health Minister Adrian Dix’s MLA office in Vancouver Friday, calling for mask mandates to be brought back in some hospitals and healthcare settings.

Organizers say that since requirements were lifted at the beginning of April, several hospitals have experienced COVID-19 outbreaks.

Some protesters shared their stories on how the lack of masks is impacting their lives.

“I no longer feel safe accessing necessary bloodwork. Disabled people like me rely on healthcare workers doing their jobs and keeping us safe, not spreading damaging illnesses that harm vulnerable people,” one person said.

On April 6, B.C.’s Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry announced masks would no longer be required in most healthcare settings.

The decision comes as the province continues to lift restrictions put in place during the pandemic — including vaccine requirements for those visiting long-term care facilities.

Protesters gathered in front of the Vancouver office of Health Minister Adrian Dix Friday. (Angela Bower, CityNews Image)

But Dr. Karina Zeidler, co-founder of the group Protect Our Province B.C. which has been critical of the government’s handling of the pandemic, says she is still furious about the masking decision.

“They keep saying the respiratory season is over– but last summer, in mid-August, there were as many people dying of COVID as the height of Delta. Anyone can go on the internet and see there is nothing seasonal about COVID,” Zeidler explained.

In a statement to CityNews, the Ministry of Health says there are “some situations where masks will be required in health-care settings, or situations where they have always been required to protect high-risk patients.”

Related article: B.C. lifts universal mask mandate in health settings

But Zeilder says she wants masking to be mandatory in all situations.

“Ethical foundation of medicine is to do no harm,” she said. “Not wearing masks in healthcare right now with COVID running rampant, having long-terms health effects, being deadly for many who are vulnerable — we need to wear masks and ‘do no harm.'”

BC Human Rights Commissioner Kasari Govender says she is also troubled by the restriction lift, echoing the protesters’ concerns.

“Masks minimally impair those who wear them, but the impacts of COVID-19 on vulnerable people are well known and they vary from the mild to the deadly,” she said in a statement.

But the Ministry of Health says it is okay to remove some of the restrictions because of vaccinations and a growing level of immunity.