Oxford County Council Implements Vaccination Policy

Wednesday, 8 September 2021 at 15:18

Woodstock Mayor and County councillor Trevor Birtch strongly opposed the vaccination policy, saying he wanted to hear from the Local Medical Officer of Health on the matter first.

Oxford County council has voted to implement a vaccine policy for all County employees.

The motion was put forth by Zorra Township Mayor and Oxford County Councillor Marcus Ryan. It states as follows:

All active County staff, contractors, volunteers and members of County Council to provide proof of vaccination status against COVID-19; OR As an alternative to vaccination in the short term, complete mandatory education and undertake regular antigen testing providing proof of a negative result prior to attending any Oxford County work location;

AND Makes COVID-19 vaccination a condition of employment for all new employees. All in a manner that complies with applicable privacy and human rights legislation;

And that staff are directed to report back to County Council regarding vaccination data;

And that this resolution be sent to all area municipalities and each are encouraged to adopt a similar policy given frequent staff interaction amongst the County and area municipalities.

The motion was also amended to require all visitors, staff, contractors and volunteers to Woodingford Lodge to be fully vaccinated by October 15.

County council voted in favour of the motion, however it was met with some opposition. Woodstock Mayor and County Councillor Trevor Birtch requested a recorded vote. He questioned the efficacy of the vaccine and requested a deferral on the motion in order to have the Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Joyce Lock attend the meeting before making any decisions.

"I think if we do want to use the words science, safety and evidence, none of us in the room would fit that bill, but yet here we are going to be asked to make decisions on this policy, based on some of our loosely held beliefs and in essence, what people on the other side of the discussion would call propaganda."

Birtch's motion for a deferral was seconded by Councillor McKay and defeated by council. The original motion of the mandatory vaccination policy passed through council with a 7-1 vote. The vote was recorded and Birtch was the only person to vote against it.

Councillor Ryan says this is not something he wanted to do, but something he felt was necessary.

"When I realized we were going to have to make a choice and ask our employees to make a choice, I knew which side I had to come down on and that was the side of science and evidence and keeping as many people as safe as possible. This is certainly not anything, anyone campaigned on and certainly not something I looked forward to doing but I think this is something that I look forward to doing but I think it is the responsible thing to do when you have a large number of employees and you want to keep everyone safe."

You can listen to Birtch's full comments by watching the video from council today online here. He starts talking on this issue at the 1 hour 28 minute mark.