COVID-19: All City of Lethbridge Personnel Must Be Fully Vaccinated by Nov. 15 – Lethbridge | The Canadian News

The City of Lethbridge has announced that it will require full COVID-19 vaccination for staff in mid-November as a way to protect the health and safety of its employees.

The city joins others like Calgary, Edmonton, Ottawa and Toronto in taking this step.

“I am pleased to see that we are moving toward mandatory vaccinations for city personnel,” Mayor Chris Spearman said in a Tuesday news release. “We know the seriousness of the COVID situation in Alberta and we must do everything we can to keep our community safe.”

Previously, the city moved toward a mandatory rapid test program. However, that approach was found to be too prohibitive.

City Manager Craig Dalton said that some departments such as fire and emergency, the ENMAX center and airport personnel are already mandated to receive the vaccine due to provincial and federal policies, and this protocol will create consistency for all departments.

“We just think it’s very important for our organization to take this step right now,” Dalton said.

“We’ve been constantly watching, as we go through this, looking at the impact on (the staff) and also the public and trying to make informed decisions as we go along.”

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Those who do not comply with the policy will be treated individually to determine the appropriate course of action.

“We fully hope that there are some people who will not support this approach,” Dalton admitted.

“The intention of this policy is not to lay off staff, the intention of this policy is to move towards mandatory vaccination,” he continued. “But we will deal with them on a case-by-case basis, with respect.”

According to the city, of the 1,800 employees, about half have responded to a survey sent out last week, and about 95 percent of those say they are already vaccinated.