(File photo/ paNOW Staff)

By Nigel Maxwell

Community safety

Vaccinations soon mandatory for Town of Shellbrook employees

Sep 22, 2021 | 12:02 PM

The Town of Shellbrook will soon require its employees to receive a vaccination, or at the very least provide proof twice a week of a negative COVID test.

The resolution passed during Monday’s council meeting takes effect Oct. 1 and was in response to a concern raised by Chief Administrative Officer Kelly Hoare. She told paNOW she felt it was the fair thing to do.

“For example if we are mandating people to prove negative tests or proof of vaccination to come to a ticketed hockey game, and maybe the employees are not vaccinated,” she said.

Hoare explained those who don’t get vaccinated, will be required to provide two negative tests a week.

“That’ll be at your own expense and you’ll have to do it on your own time,” she said.

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While Mayor Amund Otterson believes the majority of town employees have been fully vaccinated, if not all, he said he too believed the measure was the reasonable thing to do.

“To re-state what someone else said, it’s the pandemic of the unvaccinated,” he said.

Last week, the provincial government announced all employees of government ministries, Crowns and agencies will have to get vaccinated, with proof of full vaccination required by Oct. 1. If they can’t be vaccinated, they’ll have to provide regular proof of negative tests.

“These aren’t measures that we wanted to implement and as a government, we have been patient in providing the opportunity and the access to get vaccinated, but that patience has now come to an end,” Premier Moe said in a statement.

“The vast majority of Saskatchewan people have done the right thing and they are growing tired of the reckless decision of the unvaccinated that is now driving our fourth wave,” he added.

Municipal employees were not included in the government’s order, but the government did encourage other employers — including school divisions — to implement a similar policy.

At their next meeting on Sept. 27, Prince Albert City Council plans to discuss what they will do.

According to a statement on the City of Saskatoon’s website, the city has been planning the launch of regular mandatory COVID-19 rapid tests for all staff who report to the workplace, with adjustments for fully vaccinated staff who choose to share their vaccination status. The program will launch Oct. 4.

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nigel.maxwell@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @nigelmaxwell