The Waterloo Regional Police say they issued a COVID-19 vaccine directive on Monday, joining a growing list of public employers across the region who have done so.
Similar to a policy currently in place for educators, the new directive will require officers to provide a complete proof of vaccination or they will be required to undergo rapid antigen testing on a regular basis.
Read more:
COVID-19: Kitchener Hospital Issues Suspension Notices to Unvaccinated Staff
Last month, Chief Bryan Larkin asked service members to reveal whether they were fully vaccinated or not.
It says that 88.5 percent said yes, a fairly even number among civil servants and officers.
“We are very pleased with the number of members who voluntarily complied with disclosing their immunization status,” said Larkin.
Read more:
Kitchener and Waterloo Announce Mandatory COVID-19 Vaccine Policies for Staff and Volunteers
The boss says those who don’t submit their numbers or aren’t vaccinated will need to undergo rapid antigen tests regularly.
“Any member who is not vaccinated will be subject to additional infection prevention and control measures, including regular submission of rapid COVID 19 antigen negative tests before arriving at work,” Larkin explained.
He also said they will miss out on any of the security jobs that the police are often hired for.
“Uniformed officers requesting to perform special duties and overtime assignments must be double vaccinated, which is fulfilled by many of those clients requesting additional form from various sites, including recreational facilities, as well as municipal buildings,” he said. said.
Anyone joining the service in the future will also need to be fully vaccinated.
See link »
© 2021 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
Reference-globalnews.ca