City workers have to get vaccinated
Photo: Colin Dacre
The city of Kelowna requires that all city employees be vaccinated against COVID-19 starting December 13th.
The city announced the decision on Friday morning, joining cities like Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Kamloops and the Capital Regional District in and around Victoria. The decision was made in consultation with Interior Health, and vaccination will now become a condition of employment with the city.
“It is an administrative decision to require staff to be vaccinated, but the council and I support this as another way to limit the transmission of the virus between staff and the public,” said Mayor Colin Basran.
The decision comes after the city of Vernon announced earlier this week that it has chosen not to prescribe the vaccine for city workers.
“Before we announce the policy today, we took some time to speak to staff about the reasons and importance of implementing a COVID-19 vaccination policy,” City Manager Doug Gilchrist said in a statement.
In a statement, the city of Kelowna said that employees with a “certified medical condition, religious or other protected human rights reason for not being vaccinated” may not be required to receive the vaccine.
