COVID-19 vaccination mandates involving domestic and outbound travel will soon be suspended. (The Canadian Press)

By NanaimoNewsNOW Staff

loosening restrictions

Feds suspend vaccination mandates, local municipalities ditch requirements for employees

Jun 14, 2022 | 5:14 PM

NANAIMO — Unvaccinated Canadians will soon be able to move more freely around the country and abroad.

Starting June 20 the federal government will suspend COVID-19 vaccine mandates for domestic and outbound international travellers, including domestic passenger trains and buses.

The vaccine mandate will also be lifted for federal workers who have been put on unpaid leave because of their vaccination status.

Several ministers point to Canada’s high vaccination rate as the government announced the changes.

More than 89 per cent of Canadians over the age of 12 have at least two doses of an approved COVID-19 vaccine.

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However, only about 55 per cent of Canadians have received a booster shot.

In B.C. the few COVID restrictions still in effect involve visitations to long-term care or seniors’ assisted living facilities.

Mask mandates and the BC Vaccine Card was dropped on March 11, however individual businesses can still apply the two measures.

Meantime local governments either ditched or didn’t implement COVID-19 vaccine mandates for their employees, contractors and volunteers.

The City of Nanaimo’s human resources manager John Van Horne told NanaimoNewsNOW the City has not enacted its COVID vaccination mandate for about two months.

The mandate resulted in three full time employees temporarily placed on unpaid leave when they refused to get vaccinated or take part in the City’s rapid testing program after Feb. 6.

Van Horne confirmed two of the employees returned to work, while the third elected not to come back.

The Regional District of Nanaimo and City of Parksville both confirmed they did not implement their respective COVID-19 mandates for its employees, contractors and volunteers.

—with files from The Canadian Press

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