A Chatham-Kent Councillor is looking to mandate COVID-19 vaccines for Municipal employees.
North Kent Councillor Joe Faas entered a notice of motion at the virtual meeting on Monday, August 23, 2021.
“The best way to prevent COVID-19 infections, hospitalizations and deaths in Canada is to increase population immunity through vaccination,” Faas said in his motion.
“The prevalence of the Delta variant of concern globally and within Ontario, has increased transmissibility and disease severity than previous COVID-19 virus strains.”
Faas added the health and safety of Chatham-Kent’s employees and citizens is paramount.
“The Province of Ontario has made COVID-19 vaccination policies mandatory in high risk settings,” Faas said.
“Other jurisdictions and other public sector employers like the City of Toronto, Toronto Transit Commission, SickKids, St. Clair College and others in the education sector have established mandatory COVID vaccination policies.”
Faas’ notice of motion is requesting that administration implement a policy “as soon as they are able”, which mandates municipal employees to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
The motion will be on the agenda for the September 13, 2021 Council meeting.
Faas had requested that the notice period for his motion be waived, which would have resulted in Council voting on his motion on Monday.
However, the vote to waive notice, which requires a two-thirds majority, failed with a vote of 9-9.
