Nearly 90% of Toronto city staff fully vaccinated

The City of Toronto is getting a good buy-in from its employees when it comes to its mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy.

As of Monday, nearly 24,000 city workers are fully vaccinated which makes 88 per cent of the staff who disclosed their status. Another five per cent of staff are partially vaccinated.

Three per cent – or just over a thousand people – have not received a shot and another 3 per cent have chosen not to share their status.

“I am encouraged that such a high number of City employees have already made the right decision for themselves, our community and our workplaces by getting vaccinated,” said Mayor John Tory in a statement.

“We know that vaccines are the most effective way to protect against the fourth wave and Delta variant so we can end this pandemic and reopen our city.”

Starting this week employees who have not been fully vaccinated will have to complete online training developed by Toronto Public Health. The training is expected to be completed by the end of September and that is also the deadline to receive their first dose. By Oct. 30 all staff are required to have received both doses.

The City initially set Monday Sept. 13 as the deadline, but a spokesperson says some staff who do not have regular access to computers needed additional time.

“Over the coming weeks, I look forward to seeing the number of fully vaccinated staff increase as we continue to make sure they understand the benefits of vaccination,” said Tory.

The city says it will continue to encourage compliance from staff with the policy and “non-compliance will be addressed on a case-by-case basis.”