'This is about what we need to do': Calls grow to make vaccines mandatory for education and childcare workers in Manitoba

WINNIPEG -

The Manitoba Liberals and NDP are calling for mandatory COVID-19 vaccinations for people working in education, early learning and childcare.

In a media availability Tuesday, Liberal Leader Dougald Lamont said with the onset of a potential fourth wave, now is the time to protect those who cannot be vaccinated.

“Children can’t choose whether they are vaccinated or not, which means public health has an obligation to step up now to ensure that the adults who care for them don’t infect them with COVID,” said Lamont.

Lamont said of the approximately 400,000 Manitobans that have yet to receive their shots, many of them are children under the age of 12 who are not yet eligible.

He said by mandating vaccinations, schools would be safer for both staff and students.

“This is not about what we want, this is about what we need to do. It’s about what we need to do to protect children, to protect our health-care system, and in fact to minimize a fourth wave in Manitoba,” said Lamont.

In a statement Nello Altomare, Manitoba’s NDP Critic for Education, said parents need to know the government is doing everything possible to protect kids when they return to the classroom.

“That’s why public health must make COVID vaccines mandatory for all staff in schools and childcare centres, and make accommodations for workers who have legitimate reasons not to be vaccinated," Altomare said in a statement.

MANITOBA TEACHERS’ SOCIETY ECHOES VACCINATION MANDATE

The Manitoba Teachers’ Society (MTS) echoed the calls for mandatory vaccinations for education workers.

A motion passed Tuesday by the MTS provincial executive calls on the provincial government to require all public school employees to be fully vaccinated. The motion does allow for exemptions based on religious or medical reasons.

MTS President James Bedford said Manitoba’s recently announced back to school plan didn’t contain the safety measures that the society’s members were looking for.

“We’re on the cusp of a fourth wave, perhaps we’re into a fourth wave, and the delta variant is the most common one now in the province. The impacts on younger people, the rate of spread among younger people, this has our members very concerned,” said Bedford.

He said vaccinations will be key in limiting the spread of the virus and keeping those unable to be vaccinated safe.

“We have the responsibility to look after the safety of those students who are in our care and concern, and this is one those ways we can be looking after their safety in a very proactive way because remember, almost half of our students, those under the age of 12, don’t have vaccination as an option,” said Bedford.

Specific data on vaccination rates among education staff is unavailable, but Bedford believes the rates among members would be similar to those of the general population.

The province recently announced changes to youth vaccination eligibility by using birth year instead of birth month. That means any child turning 12 this year is eligible for a vaccine, regardless of their birthday.

Dr. Joss Reimer, the medical lead of Manitoba's Vaccine Implementation Task Force, has said the province is seriously considering a school-based immunization rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine for young students once Health Canada approves vaccines for children under 12.

For now, only children between the ages of 12 and 17 can roll up their sleeves for a Pfizer shot in Canada.

 

With files from CTV’s Devon McKendrick and Danton Unger