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COVID-19 vaccine policy moves forward for Fernie
By Erin Knutson
City of Fernie council last week announced the city’s COVID-19 Vaccine Policy plan, slated to take effect on April 25
“This policy is aimed at protecting the health and wellness of employees. We have seen the disruption of the latest wave of the pandemic with many people in our communities and other communities taking stances,” said chief administrative officer Michael Boronowski.
According to Boronowski and Mayor Ange Qualizza, Fernie will be following approximately 20 other municipalities that have gone forth with a mandatory vaccine policy.
The policy aims to protect volunteers, employees, contractors, and the public.
“What we know is that the vaccines have proven to reduce the spread of the virus for most of the variants and reduce the length and severity of the illness,” said Boronowski.
The pandemic has been detrimental to critical services provided by the city, sparking the inception of a policy developed jointly with human resources management, the manager of health and safety, and the city’s corporate officer.
Council members questioned the arrival of the policy without it being brought forth as a request for decision before being rolled out.
“This is a policy that governs the protection of our health, safety, and the well-being of our employees – it’s an operational policy in nature,” Boronowski responded.
The policy requires proof of vaccination from all individuals working in close contact with employees on City of Fernie properties or facilities.
Human resources will handle exemptions with regular proof of testing and results required, according to Boronowski.
“To ensure the continued efforts of maintaining the health, safety, and wellbeing of our employees, the city requires all employees to maintain a fully vaccinated status,” he said.
Mayor Qualizza supported the policy advocating for the wellness of elected officials.
“The safety of our staff is essential to me and under no circumstances do they need to interact with unvaccinated people,” she said.
Further, Qualizza tabled a motion for a request to decide to consider a council vaccination policy, which was moved and seconded to be brought back at a later date.
A discussion on democracy and the right for people to participate who are opposed or can’t vaccinate was tabled.
“We want to make sure that people have a choice – that they could Zoom in for meetings if they didn’t want to or weren’t able to vaccinate,” said Coun. Yvonne Prest.
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