Quinte West council has officially approved mandatory COVID-19 vaccinations for all city staff.
That includes council, committee members, city staff members and volunteers.
The final date to submit proof of full vaccination is November 22.
Any city staff member who does not present full proof of vaccination by that date will be placed on unpaid leave.
At Monday’s council meeting there were numerous letters read under public input in strong opposition of the policy, calling it “medical tyranny.”
Many of the letters challenged the effectiveness of the vaccines and accused the government of overstepping their power.
Mayor Jim Harrison listed key dates for the timeline between now and November 22:
- October 11, 2021 – Final day to notify the city of vaccination status
- October 18, 2021 – First day of rapid antigen testing for employees who have not uploaded proof of full vaccination
- November 8, 2021 – Last day to receive a second dose of vaccine to be compliant by November 22
- November 22, 2021 – Final day to submit proof of full vaccination before being put on unpaid leave of absence
Councillor Terry Cassidy spoke about the opposition the motion faced.
“We had a long session of public input tonight and we did our respectful best and we listened to everybody’s input tonight. We’ve been judged to be doing something that many of them may not like but, in fact, we’ve listened and that’s part of our job and we did that with respect. I’m hoping that level of respect will help them to understand that we do not come at this from any point of harming anybody but as you’ve said Mr. Mayor, from the point of view of looking out for the health of our staff and the public as well, and that we hope that they can come to some terms in being able to see that in spite of the belief in the point of view that they’ve emphasized over and over again tonight. In the end we were a group of people that duly thought about this, made a decision, and we listened to their input and we showed them respect for their freedom of speech.”
Councillor Michael Kotsovos reiterated that the vaccine prevents hospitalization and death and that it minimizes spread of the virus to other people who may not be able to get the vaccination, such as children.
He also urged people to do fact-based research with credible sources when researching the vaccine.
Chief Administrative Officer David Clazie said that specific details on the policy will be shared with city staff on Tuesday.