Effective January 14, 2022, all City of Williams Lake employees must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and must provide proof of vaccination, unless they have an approved accommodation under the provisions of the Human Rights Code of BC. To ensure a safe workplace, members of City Council, contractors, volunteer firefighters, and other volunteers entering a City owned and/or operated facility or worksite will also be required to be fully vaccinated.
“As always, the health and safety of City employees and our citizens is our top priority,” said Chief Administrative Officer Gary Muraca. “Public health officials, scientists and other medical experts have communicated repeatedly that vaccination is the best defense for preventing workplace transmission, serious illness, hospitalization and death due to the COVID-19 virus. The City of Williams Lake as a responsible employer continues to follow the direction from public health, and wants to be part of the solution.”
Councillor Ivan Bonnell said, “We are fortunate to have access to a vaccine that helps prevent COVID-19. The only way past this pandemic is for everybody to do their part and to trust the science and medical professionals.”
Councillor Scott Nelson echoes this sentiment. “We encourage the community to get vaccinated. Being fully vaccinated makes it nine times less likely that you will be infected, 43 times less likely to be hospitalized, and 36 times less likely to die from COVID if infection does occur. I think these are extremely powerful statistics.”
The City of Williams Lake has collectively implemented several COVID-19 specific safety measures throughout this pandemic. It is one of several other municipalities that have implemented mandatory vaccines for employees, including Vancouver, Calgary, Kelowna, Kamloops, Capital Regional District and Saanich.
No comments:
Post a Comment