The City of Windsor is ready to fill over a hundred jobs left vacant by employees who did not comply with its COVID-19 vaccine policy.
A total of 104 employees did not either get the vaccine or provide an approved medical or human rights exemption request by Tuesday's deadline for getting the first dose, according to a release from the City Wednesday evening. With that, 43 full-time and 61 temporary part-time employees have been fired.
This means that 97.1 per cent of the City's over 3,500 employees either declared their vaccination status, took steps to get vaccinated, or had their exemption request approved.
"The full impact of the Omicron Variant is still unknown, but we can see today the devastating effects it is having on our schools, businesses, and our healthcare system," said Windsor Chief Administrative Officer Jason Reynar. "We know that the only path available to keep our employees and our residents safe is through vaccination. I’m therefore very thankful to our employees who have been vaccinated and who continue to provide the critical services, programs and infrastructure to our community."
The City adopted its vaccine policy in September 2021. At that time, staff had until mid-November to either provide proof of vaccination or submit an exemption request based on medical or human rights reasons. Employees also had access to information and educational materials designed to address questions and concerns about the vaccines.
The staffing issues have led to problems in some City departments, namely Transit Windsor, which cut back on service on November 22 and will operate at those levels until further notice. Some employees were reassigned to other departments to cover for those who were on unpaid leaves of absence.
With Tuesday being the deadline to provide proof of a first dose, February 1 is the deadline for employees to provide documentation of a second dose.