Employees who fail to comply have been placed on leave
Ninety-five per cent of Toronto's workers are now fully vaccinated against COVID-19, as the city continues to place unvaccinated staff on leave. This percentage is equivalent to over 30,500 employees, with that number still increasing as more employees opt to get the jab. Between November 4 and 10, a total of 379 employees were fully vaccinated against COVID-19, while 821 said they currently are partially vaccinated.
"The City has again seen an increase in the number of employees – 379 in less than one week – who have made the decision to receive a full course of the COVID-19 vaccine," said city manager Chris Murray. "We continue to uphold our responsibility to provide a safe workplace for all of our employees and a fully vaccinated workforce is essential to achieving that."
Meanwhile, 99% of the city's workers have declared their vaccination status, which is equivalent to more than 33,021 workers.
Read more: Toronto District School Board to require staff get vaccinated against COVID 19
In October, Toronto announced that workers who are not yet vaccinated by November 1 will be placed on unpaid leave for six weeks. As of November 10, 379 staff have been placed on unpaid leave for not complying with the city's policy, while 101 employees are on leave of absence as their accommodation requests remain pending. The suspension of workers has led to some staffing issues in a number of recreation classes, prompting to the temporary pause of 94 recreation programmes out of 6,400, affecting 576 clients overall.
On the other hand, critical and priority services were not affected by the policy, with no reported impact on the Toronto Police, Toronto Fire Services, or Toronto Paramedic Services as of yet. Workers who refused to be vaccinated within the six weeks they’ve been placed on unpaid leave will be terminated for not complying to the city's COVID-19 vaccination policy.
