The provincial government is expected to back down today on a long-standing feud with Ontario's paramedics by announcing they will no longer be required by law to get a flu shot, according to the paramedics' union.

The move comes after a two-year standoff over the vaccination requirement, which many paramedics insist is an infringement of their Charter rights.

Brian Cochrane, president of Local 416 of the Canadian Union of Public Employees, which represents Toronto's paramedics, said behind-the-scenes negotiations have been going on for months.

"We have learned the government is moving in the direction of repealing the regulation," he said last night. "We're very hopeful."

Although paramedics have been required for years to be immunized against diseases like tetanus, diphtheria and rubella under the Ambulance Act, they balked at getting an influenza shot each winter. It was made mandatory in 2000, but policing was left to municipalities.

Some paramedics said they did not want to risk potential long-term side effects from being immunized.

Last year, only 8 per cent of Toronto's 790 paramedics got the flu shot. Similarly, paramedics were threatened with suspension in Peterborough, Timiskaming, Ottawa and Niagara Falls.

One paramedic, Bill Kotsopoulos, refused the immunization and ended up becoming a cleaner at a North Bay hospital while on indefinite suspension.

A spokesperson for Health Minister Tony Clement refused to confirm the policy change, saying questions will be answered at a news conference this morning.

Clement, along with Colin D'Cunha, Ontario's chief medical officer of health, are scheduled to visit a Toronto Emergency Medical Services ambulance station on Davenport Rd.

Paramedics were angry they were singled out for forced immunization while other health-care professionals such as doctors and nurses were only encouraged to get the shots.

The union representing Toronto's paramedics filed a court challenge, arguing that their rights were violated under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

If the government drops the mandatory requirement, union officials say they'll drop the challenge. Preliminary hearing dates were set for later this month.

Their case was bolstered in April by an arbitration board ruling that said requiring medical treatment for employees "is an assault if there is no consent."

That case involved 15 staffers at a geriatric hospital in Hamilton who were suspended during a flu outbreak in January, 2000, for declining shots and refusing to take anti-viral medication.

All along, Clement has insisted that paramedics should obey the law, citing reasons that included protecting patients and reducing sick time among paramedics.

In 2000, the provincial government began a universal vaccination campaign to encourage all Ontarians to get immunized, after emergency rooms were overcrowded during flu season.

Influenza kills as many as 1,500 Canadians each year.