Sophomore Nina Hadzimustafic Makes Vaccines for COVID-19 at Jabapalooza, an Emerging Vaccine Clinic in Ottawa on Monday, December 20, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS / Justin Tang UPDATE 3 p.m. The federal government will consider whether to include booster vaccines in the next issue of the COVID-19 vaccine mandate for its employees, the Finance Council said as it reconsiders the rules. The government needs to reconsider the need for the policy, which currently requires federal civil servants to receive two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine or to receive unpaid leave after six months. That timetable is running out this week, and while the Finance Council has been consulting with unions in recent weeks, the Civil Service Alliance of Canada says it is in the dark about the direction the government will take. “They have said, ‘You will see a renewed policy on April 6,’” Chris Aylward, the union’s national president, said in an interview. “I have no idea what this renewed policy might look like.” While the review could consider the mandate no longer necessary, the government could also choose to extend it to encourage more members of the public service to receive a boost shot. “Any decisions will be based on science and the advice of public health officials,” Mona Fortier, chairman of the Finance Council, said in a statement Monday. As such, any employee in the core of public administration, as well as in the RCMP, must certify that they are fully vaccinated or at risk of being released on unpaid leave. The policy applies even to employees who work from home. The policy document states that the purpose of the mandates is to protect employees, colleagues and their customers against COVID-19 and to increase vaccination rates across the public service. Fortier confirmed last week that the definition of “fully vaccinated” is also being considered as part of the review. More than 98 percent of federal civil servants have said they have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 in two doses since March 28. If the definition of fully vaccinated is changed, employees may need a reminder to maintain their paycheck. Vaccination rates in the general population are just as high, at about 90 percent for people aged 18 and over on March 27th. But booster intake was slower, at just 57 percent. Some 2,690 workers, representing about one percent of the federal workforce, have applied for some form of housing in the past six months. Ailward said “very, very few” employees have been fired. The unions have rejected the vaccine order before the six-month review. The Canadian Civil Service Institute has urged the government to determine when the policy will no longer be needed, given the nationwide high vaccination rate. “As counties ease restrictions, employers must do the same and allow members on unpaid leave (LWOP) to return to work,” PIPSC said in a statement. PSAC has recently lodged a complaint against the existing policy on behalf of all members who have been remunerated without pay due to their vaccination status. Putting the unvaccinated on unpaid leave is hard, the union said, and can be considered disciplinary and without cause. PSAC also filed anti-policy grievances in December 2021 on behalf of Treasury staff working remotely, and earlier this month on Canada Revenue staff working from home. The union said at the time that the vaccination order for remote workers was a misuse of management, as people with little prospect of returning to their natural place of work posed a reasonable threat to health and safety. The government has set up accommodation for individuals for specific medical, religious or other reasons protected by Canadian Human Rights Act. The six-month review comes as provinces have begun to lift restrictions on public health, including vaccine orders, across the country. While the massive Omicron wave that struck Canada in January and February has just subsided, the country is likely to be already in the midst of a resurgence, Public Health Chief Dr Theresa Tam said on Friday. In recent weeks he has suggested that Canada is in a “period of uncertainty” and has strongly advised people to be informed about their vaccinations to protect themselves from serious illness. In general, however, Tam said policymakers are moving away from mandate payments. “We want the Canadians to want to get it, because it makes sense from a serious perspective of the outcome,” he said in a March 18 update. ORIGINAL 12:45 p.m. The federal government plans to update its policy on mandatory COVID-19 vaccines for its employees on Wednesday. The Civil Service Alliance of Canada has already filed a complaint against the existing policy that requires all members of the federal public service to be fully vaccinated even if they work from home. The government is obliged to review the policy after six months and this schedule expires this week. PSAC President Chris Aylward says the club has been consulted but does not know what to expect from the new policy. He says some officials have been disciplined for their vaccination status and have been put on unpaid leave. More than 98 percent of federal civil servants say they are fully vaccinated.
