York Region Police not mandating vaccines for its members is garnering some concern at the regional council.
The police service is “strongly encouraging” employees to get vaccinated but is not going as far as mandating it as York Region has done for its municipal employees. As an alternative, members can provide a rapid antigen test valid for up to 72 hours. The police service has paid for testing so far, but members will be required to pay for themselves starting Jan. 3 if they do not have a valid medical exemption to vaccination.
Regional councillor Don Hamilton questioned the policy during a Nov. 25 meeting. He said given the region is mandating its employees get COVID-19 vaccinated or be terminated by Jan. 5, he does not see why police would not mandate vaccines.
“I understand York Regional Police are not being held to the same standard as other York Region employees,” Hamilton said. “I don’t understand this, and I’d like to have some consistency.”
Lower-tier municipalities, including Newmarket, are also mandating vaccines for employees.
In an email statement, police chief Jim MacSween said officers must continue to adhere to other protocols like physical distancing and personal protective equipment. But he said they had to consider factors like litigation in crafting their vaccination policy.
“We consulted extensively with other public sector organizations and police services for best practices on the issue of mandatory vaccination. We also considered a number of factors including, our pre-policy vaccination rate, our exposure to litigation based on our collective agreements and the Police Services Act, and our desire to maximize health and safety while minimizing any negative impacts on our service delivery,” McSween said. “Mindful that vaccine mandates are a polarizing issue, we ultimately developed a vaccination and rapid antigen testing policy that is based on a measured and incremental approach.”
York Region CAO Bruce Macgregor, in response to Hamilton, also said there are “labour relations” considerations.
The York Regional Police Association declined to comment or participate in an interview.
York medical officer of health Dr. Barry Pakes said he is very supportive of workplace vaccination policies.
“Whatever we can do to ensure the sort of gradual realization of our goals of having everybody vaccinated as quickly as possible, the better,” Pakes said. “That’s going to look differently in different places ... Regular testing is not a long-term solution.”
Other groups are pointing out the inconsistency. A group of COVID-19 unvaccinated York Region municipal employees cited the York Regional Police policy, among other organizations, and said they too should be able to get regular testing instead of vaccination.
MacSween said the policy could be adjusted in the future, guided by reopening plans and advice from public health officials.
“York Regional Police will continue to develop and reassess our policies and procedures to keep our community and our workplace safe and healthy during this unprecedented time,” he said.
