N.B. civil servants must get vaccine by Sept. 13 or submit to testing 3 times a week
New Brunswick civil servants have until Sept. 13 to get fully vaccinated against COVID-19 or be forced to wear masks and undergo regular testing, according to an internal government memo obtained by The Canadian Press.
The vaccine mandate was announced last week by Premier Blaine Higgs but details were only distributed internally to staff on Thursday.
Unvaccinated government workers will have to wear masks unless they are alone in their personal workspaces, and they will have to complete three rapid tests for COVID-19 each week and the more invasive PCR test once a month.
Staff who refuse to comply with the mask and testing order could be fired, and new employees will have 45 days to provide proof of full vaccination or they will be terminated.
Employees who provide a certificate of medical exemption to the vaccines will not be required to wear masks but will need to follow the testing requirements.
The memo says in the event of an outbreak in the workplace, testing requirements may be temporarily modified based on public health guidance.
Steve Drost, president of CUPE New Brunswick, which represents more than 28,000 public employees in the province, says the union won't politicize the vaccination policy by taking a position on it but is encouraging members to get vaccinated.
"We just say anybody and everybody that can get vaccinated should get vaccinated," Drost told reporters Friday in Fredericton.
Drost said he doesn't have a concern with the policy's requirement for masks and testing for people who are not vaccinated.
"I think we have to take every step possible to try and get ahead of this pandemic, and whatever health and safety requirements that public health requires, we have an obligation to follow those," he said.
About 74 per cent of eligible New Brunswickers are fully vaccinated while 84 per cent have received at least one dose.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 27, 2021.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Widow looking for answers after Quebec man dies in Texas Ironman competition
The widow of a Quebec man who died competing in an Ironman competition is looking for answers.
Amid concerns over 'collateral damage' Trudeau, Freeland defend capital gains tax change
Facing pushback from physicians and businesspeople over the coming increase to the capital gains inclusion rate, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his deputy Chrystia Freeland are standing by their plan to target Canada's highest earners.
Tom Mulcair: Park littered with trash after 'pilot project' is perfect symbol of Trudeau governance
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
Wildfire southwest of Peace River spurs evacuation order
People living near a wildfire burning about 15 kilometres southwest of Peace River are being told to evacuate their homes.
World seeing near breakdown of international law amid wars in Gaza and Ukraine, Amnesty says
The world is seeing a near breakdown of international law amid flagrant rule-breaking in Gaza and Ukraine, multiplying armed conflicts, the rise of authoritarianism and huge rights violations in Sudan, Ethiopia and Myanmar, Amnesty International warned Wednesday as it published its annual report.
Train derailed in Sarnia after colliding with a truck
Police are investigating after a transport truck collided with a train in Sarnia.
Fewer medical students going into family medicine contributing to doctor shortage
As some family doctors are retiring and others are moving away from family medicine, there are fewer medical students to take their place.
'It's discriminatory': Individuals refused entry to Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
Individuals being barred from entering Ontario’s legislature while wearing a keffiyeh say the garment is part of their cultural identity— and the only ones making it political are the politicians banning it.
Bodies found by U.S. authorities searching for missing B.C. kayakers
United States authorities who have been searching for a pair of missing kayakers from British Columbia since the weekend have recovered two bodies in the nearby San Juan Islands of Washington state.