EDMONTON -- A top official at Toronto鈥檚 University Health Network (UHN) says requiring front-line staff to be vaccinated against COVID-19 would 鈥渦ndermine confidence and trust,鈥 after concerns that thousands of eligible health-care workers have yet to register for vaccinations.

Roughly 4,000 UHN staff had not registered for their shots as of Monday, prompting an calling their decision 鈥渨orrisome鈥 amid a third wave of the disease.

But Dr. Susy Hota, medical director of infection control and prevention at UHN, says the network is not encouraging a mandatory vaccination policy, noting that vaccine hesitancy is natural, even among front-line workers.

鈥淗ealth-care workers do feel a very strong sense of responsibility to protect the population鈥 but it鈥檚 more complicated than that. We鈥檙e talking about a vaccine; we鈥檙e not talking about enforcing a new policy,鈥 Dr. Susy Hota, medical director of infection control and prevention at Toronto鈥檚 University Health Network, told CTV鈥檚 Your Morning Thursday.

鈥淲e have to make sure to get people the time and the tools that they need to make the right decision and feel comfortable with it.鈥

In the letter sent to staff Monday, UHN CEO Kevin Smith makes reference to 鈥渞umours about the vaccines,鈥 noting that health service vaccine ambassadors will be made available at each unit to answer questions.

Hota says the majority of questions she鈥檚 received from staff about the vaccine stem from concerns about underlying health conditions. But she notes increasing concern about delaying the second dose and whether that鈥檚 going to change the way the vaccine works.

鈥淵ou have to respect that people do have religious and medical reasons for not being able to or wanting to take the vaccine,鈥 Hota said, noting that the UHN approach is to 鈥済ive people the information they need to make that decision.鈥

On Tuesday, a UHN spokesperson confirmed that, since the letter was sent, . That means that about 85 per cent of staff at UHN will soon be vaccinated, Howard added.

On the question of whether hospitals and health-care organizations could make it mandatory to get a COVID-19 vaccine, Hota says it would be very difficult to enforce.

鈥淭he best way [to do this] is instilling in people the importance of getting the vaccine while still making it a voluntary thing,鈥 she said.

鈥淏ecause if you were to make it mandatory you鈥檙e really undermining confidence and trust, and that鈥檚 going to have an effect on future vaccines and uptake as well.鈥濃