Public Health Sudbury and Districts is urging employers to implement a vaccination policy.
Noting the district and province are entering the fourth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic - dominated by the more transmissible and dangerous Delta variant - Medical Officer of Health Dr. Penny Sutcliffe's "strongly recommending" employers put a vaccination policy in place "to protect their employees and the public from COVID-19", with the health unit even distributing its Workplace Vaccine Policy Toolkit to help with a policy template and educational materials.
Dr. Sutcliffe says the health unit's "aiming high so we can stay low" - needing more than 90 percent of eligible individuals vaccinated to keep cases low - and she calls workplaces "an essential part of the vaccination solution", with workplace practices and policies "critical to encourage vaccine uptake among employees".
This comes as various organizations, companies, and institutions are requiring employees to be fully vaccinated, have proof of a medical exemption, or face frequent testing - PHSD says its employees, contractors, volunteers, and students must provide proof of vaccination, a medical exemption, or completion of an approved educational program.