ARICHAT: Richmond County is among the Strait area municipalities with a vaccination policy.
As a result of a motion approved during Monday night’s meeting, the Municipality of the County of Richmond now has a mandatory vaccination policy – with religious, medical, and Nova Scotia Human Rights Act exemptions – for municipal employees.
In response to a question from District 1 Councillor Shawn Samson, who noted there are “accommodations” under the policy, Warden Amanda Mombourquette said the municipality would have to follow all Nova Scotia Public Health protocols, including wearing masks, maintaining distance, and practicing proper hygiene.
“If you’re in your office alone, with the door closed, you can have your mask off,” she replied. “This policy is basically directing people that they have to follow those protocols, whether they’re vaccinated or not.”
Because the situation is changing, Samson had his objection noted by Mombourquette.
“We see this changing every day now, and we see that double-vaccinated people are getting the virus,” he told council. “To me, the rubber is going to hit the road when it comes to all these boosters. Listening to some of my residents, and some of my concerns, I don’t know if we want to move this forward right now, or give it a couple of weeks of the holiday break. Our kids are out of school right now, and for me, I’d like to see a couple of weeks down the road to see where this Omicron (variant) takes us, and where we’re going to go from here.”