FILE PHOTO
November 30, 2021 - 1:44 PM
Civil servants in B.C. were required to be vaccinated against COVID-19 by today and 98% have complied by getting at least one dose.
Of those, 97% are fully vaccinated, according to a B.C. Ministry of Health news release issued today, Nov. 30. The vaccination rate for adults in B.C. was 91.5% as of yesterday.
There are 439 (1.15%) of the B.C. public service who only have one shot. They have 35 days from the date of their first dose to get their second shot.
Another 274 employees (0.72%) have applied for a medical or other type of exemption. Those applications are being reviewed on an individual basis.
There are 432 out of more than 34,240 government employees, or 1.13%, who are unvaccinated or declined to disclose their vaccination status. They have 35 days to get vaccinated. If they don’t, they will be put on unpaid leave for three months, after which time they could be terminated.
READ MORE: 4 more COVID-19 deaths in Interior Health region
Those who are absent from work will have to disclose their status before returning to work, if they are vaccinated.
There was no breakdown by regions of the province but a Ministry of Health spokesperson said there was not much difference between regions.
The vaccination rules apply to every employee of the B.C. Public Service, including employees of boards, commissions, agencies or organizations governed by the Public Service Act. Those working for agencies, boards and commissions did not have to report their status to the Public Services Agency.
New rules will also require contractors and others going into employee-only areas of indoor public service workplaces to be fully vaccinated by Dec. 13. Those rules don’t apply to the general public getting government services.
To contact a reporter for this story, email Rob Munro or call 250-808-0143 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.
We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above.
News from © iNFOnews, 2021