West Kelowna making vaccines mandatory for staff

The City of West Kelowna is the latest B.C. municipality to implement a COVID-19 vaccination policy.

All city employees will have to show proof of vaccination by Jan. 4, 2022.

City management says the intent of this policy is to help protect employees and the community, and further enables the city to safely and effectively deliver services to its citizens.

“Throughout the pandemic, we have worked closely with our employees to provide a safe work environment in line with public heath orders and, aside from those orders, we need to do as much as we can beyond that,” said Paul Gipps, Chief Administrative Officer. “The health and well-being of our employees and our citizens remains paramount.”

“Not only will this policy help protect our employees, it will help protect our citizens who we serve across all city facilities,” Gipps remarked.

The policy applies to all city employees, regardless of work location.

Kelowna, Kamloops and Vancouver are other B.C. cities to approve vaccination policies.