Nearly 400 additional City of Toronto workers have now become compliant with vaccine mandate, hundreds more on unpaid leaves
Nearly 400 additional City of Toronto employees have become fully vaccinated over the last week as the city continues to see an increase in the number of its workers who are choosing to get immunized when faced with the prospect of being placed on an unpaid leave and eventually terminated.
In a news release issued on Friday afternoon, the City of Toronto said that 97.3 per cent of its more than 32,000 active employees have now received at least two doses of COVID-19 vaccine, including an additional 384 staff members who became fully vaccinated over the course of the last week.
The city says that it has now placed 541 staff members on unpaid leaves of absence, which is an increase of 26 from this time last week.
The city, however, says that 15 employees have since returned to work after becoming compliant with their vaccine mandate.
“It is encouraging to see that week after week we are seeing an increase in the number of employees becoming fully vaccinated. This is an important step in providing a safe workplace for our employees, and helping to protect our community,” City Manager Chris Murray said in the press release.
The city began meeting with employees who are either unvaccinated or who have refused to disclose their status earlier this month.
When it began those meetings nearly 1,300 employees were not compliant with its vaccine mandate.
But since then that number has been reduced to 880.
The city says that nearly 500 of those individuals are partially vaccinated and will now be given until Jan. 2 to become fully vaccinated following a change in the recommended dosing interval.
The city had previously said that it intended to terminate all non-compliant employees with cause as of Dec. 13.
So far, the service impacts arising from hundreds of employees being placed on leaves have been minimal, though the city did have to cancel more than 90 recreation programs due to staffing shortages last week.
It says that there are “no additional changes to recreational programs to report this week.”
“As the city continues the implementation of its vaccination policy, it does not anticipate impacts to critical and priority services,” the press release notes.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Ottawa public school board, 3 Toronto-area school boards launch lawsuit against social media giants
The Ottawa-Carleton District School Board and three school boards in the Toronto-area have launched legal action against social media giants, accusing them of "disrupting students' fundamental right to education."
Several flight attendants from Pakistan have gone missing after landing in Canada
Multiple flight attendants from Pakistan International Airlines have abandoned their jobs and are believed to have sought asylum in Canada in the past year and a half, a spokesperson for the government-owned airline says.
Tipping is off the table at this Toronto restaurant
A Toronto restaurant introduced a surprising new rule that reduced the cost of a meal and raised the salaries of staff.
Rainfall warnings of up to 90 mm among weather alerts in effect for 7 provinces
Rainfall warnings of up to 90 millimetres, air quality advisories and other alerts have been issued for seven Canadian provinces, according to the latest forecasts.
King Charles calls for acts of friendship in first public remarks since Kate's cancer diagnosis
King Charles III gave public remarks for Maundy Thursday, addressing the importance of acts of friendship, following his and Catherine, Princess of Wales’ cancer diagnoses.
A Nigerian woman reviewed some tomato puree online. Now she faces jail
A Nigerian woman who wrote an online review of a can of tomato puree is facing imprisonment after its manufacturer accused her of making a “malicious allegation” that damaged its business.
Ukrainian child asylum seekers in St. John’s get class of their own
Roughly 50 children will gathered in a St. John’s classroom for the first time on Saturday for unique lessons on Ukrainian language, culture and history.
Donald Trump assails judge and his daughter after gag order in N.Y. hush-money criminal case
Donald Trump lashed out Wednesday at the New York judge who put him under a gag order that bars him from commenting publicly about witnesses, prosecutors, court staff and jurors in his upcoming hush-money criminal trial.
A fight to protect the dignity of Michelangelo's David raises questions about freedom of expression
Michelangelo's David has been a towering figure in Italian culture since its completion in 1504. But in the current era of the quick buck, curators worry the marble statue's religious and political significance is being diminished.