Region of Queens Administration Building. Photo Ed Halverson

The Region of Queens will require anyone entering a municipally operated building to be double vaccinated.

Council voted to unanimously approve the measures at a special session Wednesday.

Mayor Darlene Norman says the aim is to provide a safe environment for staff and the public.

“Council all agreed. They all recognized that COVID is an airborne disease, strains are multiplying, and we need to take as many precautionary acts as we can,” said Norman.

Unvaccinated people may still enter the administration building to pay bills, fees or pick up permits or documents.

Proof of a first dose must be presented to the Region’s Safety Officer or staff supervisor by December 31 and full vaccination needs to be shown by February 15, 2022.

Any employee failing to meet the deadline will be placed on unpaid leave for 30 days.

If that employee still isn’t vaccinated at the end of those 30 days, they will be fired.

The policy applies to employees required to interact with members of the public, other staff, contractors, or access common building spaces in the performance of their daily duties.

Norman says the Region is taking this step to fill what she sees as a lack of direction from the province.

“One would have hoped that the provincial government would have made a policy that went straight across the board rather than leaving this up to individual municipalities,” said Norman. “However, they did not, so we did.”

The Region of Queens new mandatory vaccine policy is effective immediately.

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Premier Tim Houston. Photo Communications Nova Scotia

The deadline has passed for mandated employees to provide proof of vaccination against COVID-19.

Provincial civil servants were given until the end of November to have at least a first dose of vaccine or risk being put on unpaid leave from their jobs.

In a release, Premier Tim Houston says he has been told there would be few disruptions to service as 99 percent of provincial government employees have been vaccinated with at least one dose.

The Department of Education and Early Childhood Development says some school bus routes in Halifax may be impacted but those will be covered off by other drivers.

Long-term care facilities across the province are keeping a close eye the number of unvaccinated employees as well.

The sector already struggles to maintain staffing levels and anyone not reporting for work could affect care at those facilities.

According to the Department of Seniors and Long-Term Care the shortfall could be made up by offering full time employment to existing casual and part time workers.

Employment agencies and travelling nursing staff could also be brought in.

Just 20 exemptions to the vaccine mandate have been granted.

Two of those came from the 134 human rights requests and 18 exemptions were issued from 49 medical requests.

Almost 85 percent of Nova Scotians have been vaccinated with one dose and 81.3 percent are fully vaccinated.

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Region of Queens Mayor Darlene Norman. Photo Ed Halverson

No word yet on whether or not Region of Queens employees will be have to be vaccinated.

Halifax is the largest municipality in Nova Scotia to join the federal and provincial governments in requiring employees to be vaccinated in order to come to work.

Region of Queens mayor Darlene Norman says directives on how to keep people safe during the pandemic are constantly evolving and council hasn’t yet addressed the issue.

Norman says a municipality like Halifax has many more employees and are better positioned to deal with gaps in service created by workers who may have to be put off work.

“We’re all small municipality. It’s not like there’s a lot of people lined up for work,” said Norman. “But what if we lost some of our key people that keep our operations going?”

Norman doesn’t have an answer for that question and is looking to see if the provincial department of municipal affairs is going to provide any direction.

An email response from department spokesperson Krista Higdon indicates the province is leaving the decision up to individual municipalities.

Higdon writes, “As an independent level of government, municipalities have the right to decide whether to adopt their own vaccine policies, although we would encourage it. We understand that a number of municipalities across Nova Scotia have already implemented their own policy in this regard, and many others are in the process of doing so.

Municipalities, like all employers in Nova Scotia, must decide what kind of vaccine policy is appropriate for their employees, communities, and the people they serve.  In implementing a vaccine policy, we expect that municipalities will adhere to the minimum standards established by the provincial policy and the various public health directives. Policies need to take legal and ethical implications into consideration.”

That leaves Queens and other smaller municipalities to figure it out.

“Our acting CAO has been checking recently with other municipalities to see what going on and [they do] not yet have a policy, not yet had that discussion,” said Norman.

She says in the meantime, the Region of Queens will continue to follow all public health orders to keep the public and their employees safe.

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Premier Tim Houston. Photo Communications Nova Scotia

The government of Nova Scotia has announced all 11,000 direct provincial employees will be required to be vaccinated by November 30.

Those who fail to do so could be placed on unpaid leave.

The measure comes as the province reports another death from COVID and 25 new cases Wednesday.

Chief medical officer of health Dr. Robert Strang says Nova Scotia is currently averaging about 40 new cases each day, about what is his department expected to see during this fourth wave of the pandemic.

At Wednesday’s COVID briefing Strang also addressed concerns about the number of cases that have been found in schools.

He says parents should not keep their children out of school unless directed to by public health.

“High vaccination rate and mild symptoms in the vast majority of children means that we can have some tolerance for this. And I firmly believe that the risk of not being in school is greater than the risk of COVID,” said Strang. “I believe that schools remain safe even though we may have some virus activity.”

Strang says if public health feels a school needs to be closed they will not hesitate to do so.

Commenting on the implementation of proof of vaccine requirements that took effect October 4, Premier Tim Houston says the feedback he’s heard from businesses and the public has been mostly positive.

And those who do not support the measures should not take their frustrations out on employees doing what the province have told them they must.

“If you don’t want to do the things that keep us all safe, just stay home. If you’re unhappy, feel free to flip me the bird when I’m walking down the street, or yell at me but don’t yell at the person that’s just doing their job,” said Houston. “Please, take that out on us but not them.”

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Dr. Robert Strang provides COVID-19 update with Premier Tim Houston and Health Minister Michelle Thompson. Photo Communications Nova Scotia

Nova Scotia’s phase 5 reopening plan will see social distancing and gathering limits lifted for businesses but will require healthcare workers and school employees to be vaccinated.

If those employees aren’t vaccinated by November 30, they could be put on unpaid administrative leave and could eventually be fired.

In the technical briefing ahead of Wednesday’s COVID update, Dr. Robert Strang stressed the importance of vaccination.

“If you’re caring for somebody, whether it’s in a hospital [or] long-term care facility. If you’re teaching somebody, who, because of their age can’t be vaccinated, you have an obligation to get vaccinated so you can do your job safely,” said Strang.

Beginning Monday October 4, anyone wishing to enter a non-essential business or activity will need to show proof of vaccination.

Those include full-service restaurants and bars, gyms or indoor sporting events.

People will not be asked to show proof of vaccination at essential services such as retail stores, banks, hair salons, doctor’s offices, hotels or faith services.

For a complete list of where proof of vaccination will or won’t be required, follow this link.

When asked if requiring proof of vaccination to fully participate in the reopening was a way to encourage more people to get vaccinated Strang says that is not the intent of the regulations, but is a welcome side-effect.

“Right now the way we look after each other or the main way in a pandemic, is to get vaccinated because that protects everyone else around us. I’m sorry if people don’t like that but you have an obligation to care for your neighbour. Care for the healthcare worker who’s going to be there for you if you get sick,” said Strang. “I won’t apologize for having to take these strong measures to get to the level of safety that we need to have.”

Nova Scotians who received their vaccinations in the province can obtain a copy of their record digitally by visiting the Nova Scotia government coronavirus web page.

That record will be updated October 4 to include a QR code.

Businesses will be able to download an app on October 22, which will read the code and simply show a green check or red X to indicate if a person is vaccinated without revealing any further personal information.

At Wednesday’s COVID-19 briefing, Premier Tim Houston took a decidedly different tone from past efforts to convince Nova Scotians to get vaccinated.

Premier Tim Houston. Photo Communications Nova Scotia

After thanking the majority of Nova Scotians who have been vaccinated, Houston spoke to some of the 60,000 who are eligible but have yet to get their shots.

“Some of you don’t want to and I also know that you want to convince me that there is a reason not to get vaccinated. But let me be very clear, I don’t agree with you,” said Houston. “No matter how many YouTube videos or conspiracy theories from so-called experts that you send to me, we will not agree. Getting vaccinated is important. For the sake of those around you, please, please, get vaccinated.”

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