A North Kent councillor pulled a motion Monday proposing to drop what's left of a municipal employee vaccination policy.
Councillor Rhonda Jubenville had planned to request council end the remainder of a policy introduced 14 months ago that required all municipal employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19 or undergo regular testing.
The rules for staff were already suspended this year for existing employees but remained in place for new municipal hires.
"I will be pulling my motion," said Jubenville. "Since my motion is now considered moved I will be presenting a new motion to reflect the current employee hiring policy excluding COVID vaccines as a condition of a requirement for employment with the Municipality of Chatham-Kent."
According to the Chatham-Kent executive management team, the existing vaccination verification and testing policy was suspended on December 7, 2022.
"Vaccination is no longer a requirement for hiring with the municipality," said Jubenville.
Council voted to suspend the vaccination and testing policy for councillors and committee members on December 5.
The vaccination and testing policy was initially approved in October 2021.
Jubenville plans to bring in a motion at an upcoming council meeting to have the municipality's executive team and council work together on any similar vaccination employment policies potentially impacting municipal employees.
