Quispamsis Approves Vaccine, Testing Policy For Staff

Quispamsis is the latest community to approve a COVID-19 vaccination and testing policy for municipal employees and councillors.

On Tuesday, council directed the acting chief administrative officer to implement the policy as of Oct. 13.

Workers and councillors who do not provide proof of full vaccination will have to complete a rapid test twice weekly.

They will also have to take a PCR test through Public Health once a month and wear a mask in the workplace at all times, except when alone in their personal workspace.

Joanie McGraw, manager of human resources, said 83 per cent of employees recently surveyed said they are already vaccinated.

“However, with the return of school and the seasonal shift to more indoor workspaces, we currently have a risk of exposure of COVID-19 within our workplaces,” said McGraw.

“Many employees have to work side-by-side on a regular basis and a lot of employees do have to share vehicles where physical distancing cannot be maintained.”

The town’s policy is in line with what is currently required for Government of New Brunswick employees and workers in other municipalities, said McGraw.

She said employees will take the rapid tests at home before coming to work and the PCR tests will have to be completed on their own time at their own expense.

McGraw said the town will be able to get rapid testing kits from the Saint John Region Chamber of Commerce and the province at no cost.

Coun. Kerrie Luck questioned why the town is waiting three weeks to implement the new vaccination and testing policy.

“I’m just wondering because we have a smaller staff relative to all of the provincial government, is there either any way we can condense that timeframe or look at interim measures to make sure we’re still protecting our staff,” said Luck.

McGraw said they used the province as an example, which gave employees three weeks’ notice before implementing their policy.

She noted that new provincial measures which went into effect at 11:59 p.m. Tuesday require masks in all indoor public spaces, including common areas such as lobbies, elevators and hallways in private sector and government workspaces.

“They will only be able to remove their mask when they are two metres apart or working in their own office,” said McGraw.

McGraw said she will meet with the acting CAO this week to see if the policy implementation date can be moved up.