TTC extending employee vaccine deadlines after new public health recommendations
Posted November 29, 2021 5:23 pm.
Some TTC employees set to be fired if they don’t provide proof of COVID-19 vaccination will now have a bit more time to comply before the pink slips start flying.
But the reprieve isn’t just the TTC cutting unvaccinated employees some sympathetic slack. The transit commission says it’s simply following updated public health guidelines when it comes to optimal dose intervals.
“The National Advisory Council on Immunization (NACI) has changed the recommended optimal interval time between first dose and second dose of a COVID-19 vaccine to eight weeks,” the TTC explained in a memo to employees obtained by CityNews, adding that Toronto Public Health has also adopted NACI’s recommendation.
Before the NACI’s update, the recommended dose interval was three weeks for the Pfizer vaccine and four weeks for Moderna’s.
“As a result of these changes in recommendations, the TTC will extend the unpaid absences for employees who receive their first dose of an approved vaccine by December 3, 2021. If you receive your first dose of an approved vaccine and submit proof by December 3, 2021, you will have eight weeks to get a second dose, and the period of the unpaid absence will be extended to January 27, 2022.
“In this case, should you not receive a second dose of an approved vaccine and submit proof of same by January 27, 2022, you will be terminated with cause effective January 28, 2022.”
The TTC stresses that employees who don’t submit proof of their first shots by December 3 won’t be eligible for an extension and will fired on New Year’s Eve.
The TTC’s vaccine policy came into effect on November 21, when unvaccinated employees were placed on unpaid absence and given until December 30 to prove they’ve been fully vaccinated.
That led to staff shortages that resulted in service disruptions on some routes.
