Selwyn council staff must be vaccinated by March 4

Selwyn District Council staff must be fully vaccinated by March 4. Photo: File image
Selwyn District Council staff must be fully vaccinated by March 4. Photo: File image
All Selwyn District Council staff will have to be vaccinated against Covid-19.

The district council introduced its Covid-19 staff vaccination policy on Wednesday, which means all staff not previously covered by the Government vaccination mandate have until March 4 to get fully vaccinated.

Chief executive David Ward said the decision is in line with the council’s My Vaccine Pass requirement at all staffed facilities.

Ward said the council is focussed on protecting staff and the wider public and "this policy is the next step in doing so".

It will keep staff and the public safe at council facilities and events, especially now the Omicron variant is spreading across the country.

On Wednesday, there were 23 new community cases of Covid-19 in New Zealand. The total number of Omicron cases in the community as of today was 56.

"As a council we have to meet the requirements of the Health and Safety Act, but more than that we want to be doing the right thing to protect our staff and to do our bit in reducing the spread of Covid-19," Ward said.

"The nature of our work means that significant numbers of our staff are frequently interacting with the public and across different teams within the council.

"We supply essential services to the community so it is important for us to do what we can to keep people safe – and vaccination is the best first line of defence."

Council staff at community and recreation centres, the Selwyn Aquatic Centre, Selwyn Sports Centre and Te Ara Ātea are already required to be fully vaccinated under the Government's vaccination mandate.

On Tuesday, Christchurch City Council confirmed 13 staff had their contracts terminated due to their vaccination status.

The council announced earlier this year it would require its 2600 staff to be fully vaccinated from Monday, January 10.

Chief executive Dawn Baxendale said the terminated contracts represented less than half a per cent of the council's total staff.