WAIT,WHAT?!
'A huge gap:' Employees of businesses requiring proof of vaccine from customers won't need to be immunized under Alberta's new COVID-19 measuresDustin Cook -
Edmonton Journal
Employees of businesses who adopt Alberta's new restriction exemption program won't be required to be immunized. The City of Edmonton is reporting a confirmed vaccination rate of 72 per cent for its employees.
Employees of businesses opting into Alberta’s new vaccine passport system won’t need to have gotten the jab.
The restriction exemption program set to come into effect Sept. 20 will allow businesses to operate without restrictions, other than mandatory masking, if they require customers to provide proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test within 72 hours. Proof of one dose will be accepted until Oct. 25 and then full vaccination will be required, Premier Jason Kenney said in introducing the new measures Wednesday evening.
But the vaccination requirement won’t extend to employees of these businesses, which Downtown Business Association executive director Puneeta McBryan said is “a huge gap” in the measures announced yesterday to combat the fourth wave of the virus. Responding to the announcement, McBryan said small businesses need support and direction from the province and this decision from the province could give them pause in implementing their own mandate for employees.
“It’s an eyebrow raiser, for sure, and I think it’s something the province is going to have to address because many large employers Downtown have chosen to require disclosure or a mandatory vaccination, but small businesses have a way harder time with that,” she said in an interview with Postmedia. “Small business owners are probably going to be far more reluctant on their own accord to require all staff to be vaccinated, even if they want to do the right thing, they might just not be feeling supported in doing that right now.”
City of Edmonton response
The City of Edmonton has yet to make a decision on whether it will implement the proof-of-vaccination system to access city facilities and amenities such as recreation centres as of Monday, but Mayor Don Iveson said more details are expected soon. Reacting to the new measures Thursday, Iveson said he supports implementing the vaccine passport system and he believes the city is tracking in that direction, but the final decision is under the authority of the city manager.
If the city chooses not to go that route, indoor recreation facilities will be limited to one-third capacity and attendees must be with household members only, or two close contacts for those who live alone. Fitness and recreation activities would be limited with indoor group classes and sporting events not permitted. St. Albert city council decided Thursday morning to follow the vaccine requirements for access to its facilities.
The vaccine program, if adopted, wouldn’t apply to city employees and data released Thursday highlights a confirmed vaccination rate of 72 per cent. But 14 per cent of the city’s 12,299 employees didn’t disclose their vaccination status.
Iveson said this result is “concerning” because it’s not enough to ensure safety for all workers. He said he supports a mandate, but city officials are still working on confirming next steps.
“I think it would need to be a lot higher for the city to have confidence that we’re achieving a shared ring of immunity within our workplaces and so the data that has been collected will factor into the city’s ultimate decisions around mandating vaccination,” he said.
Employees of businesses who adopt Alberta's new restriction exemption program won't be required to be immunized. The City of Edmonton is reporting a confirmed vaccination rate of 72 per cent for its employees.
Employees of businesses opting into Alberta’s new vaccine passport system won’t need to have gotten the jab.
The restriction exemption program set to come into effect Sept. 20 will allow businesses to operate without restrictions, other than mandatory masking, if they require customers to provide proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test within 72 hours. Proof of one dose will be accepted until Oct. 25 and then full vaccination will be required, Premier Jason Kenney said in introducing the new measures Wednesday evening.
But the vaccination requirement won’t extend to employees of these businesses, which Downtown Business Association executive director Puneeta McBryan said is “a huge gap” in the measures announced yesterday to combat the fourth wave of the virus. Responding to the announcement, McBryan said small businesses need support and direction from the province and this decision from the province could give them pause in implementing their own mandate for employees.
“It’s an eyebrow raiser, for sure, and I think it’s something the province is going to have to address because many large employers Downtown have chosen to require disclosure or a mandatory vaccination, but small businesses have a way harder time with that,” she said in an interview with Postmedia. “Small business owners are probably going to be far more reluctant on their own accord to require all staff to be vaccinated, even if they want to do the right thing, they might just not be feeling supported in doing that right now.”
City of Edmonton response
The City of Edmonton has yet to make a decision on whether it will implement the proof-of-vaccination system to access city facilities and amenities such as recreation centres as of Monday, but Mayor Don Iveson said more details are expected soon. Reacting to the new measures Thursday, Iveson said he supports implementing the vaccine passport system and he believes the city is tracking in that direction, but the final decision is under the authority of the city manager.
If the city chooses not to go that route, indoor recreation facilities will be limited to one-third capacity and attendees must be with household members only, or two close contacts for those who live alone. Fitness and recreation activities would be limited with indoor group classes and sporting events not permitted. St. Albert city council decided Thursday morning to follow the vaccine requirements for access to its facilities.
The vaccine program, if adopted, wouldn’t apply to city employees and data released Thursday highlights a confirmed vaccination rate of 72 per cent. But 14 per cent of the city’s 12,299 employees didn’t disclose their vaccination status.
Iveson said this result is “concerning” because it’s not enough to ensure safety for all workers. He said he supports a mandate, but city officials are still working on confirming next steps.
“I think it would need to be a lot higher for the city to have confidence that we’re achieving a shared ring of immunity within our workplaces and so the data that has been collected will factor into the city’s ultimate decisions around mandating vaccination,” he said.
Mandatory work from home
Although businesses will have some adjusting to do with the new restrictions in place, McBryan said the most troublesome measure is the mandatory work-from-home order which will again take people away from the core just as business was starting to flourish with thousands of people returning to the office.
“All of our Downtown businesses who have just hung on through the last 19 months, they just finally had some consistent traffic to keep them going and now if everyone goes back home, we’re right back to being a pretty empty Downtown,” she said.
McBryan said she hopes the province will consider an exemption for businesses who already have a mandatory vaccination program in place.
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