A group of over 3,500 Alberta health-care professionals including around 70 physicians is calling on the province to stop mandatory vaccination for health-sector workers, saying the mandate violates their Charter rights. “We represent a wide range of vaccinated and unvaccinated health care professionals from multiple disciplines, who are deeply concerned about these mandatory vaccinations,” said the group referred to as Health Professionals United, in an open letter to Alberta Health Services (AHS) on Sept. 20. AHS announced its vaccine mandate on Aug. 31, which requires all employees and contracted healthcare providers to be fully immunized by Oct. 31. Failure to do so will result in being placed on an unpaid leave of absence “for the period of time required to become fully immunized,” according to the AHS policy. In its letter calling for an end to the mandate, the group questioned the efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccines over time and risks of …