Belleville council will be discussing moving teachers and others employed in the education system higher on the priority list when it comes to receiving vaccinations against COVID-19.
In a Twitter post, city councillor Bill Sandison says after discussions with Mayor Mitch Panciuk and Councillor Sean Kelly he will bring a motion forward at Monday’s meeting to send a letter to Premier Ford, the Chief Medical Officer, Minister of Education, and others asking that educators be vaccinated ahead of others in Phase 2 of the vaccine rollout.
Sandison says people in the education system are likely to face increased risk as students return from spring break, which is now on.
Last week, the Hastings Prince Edward Public Health Board voted against prioritizing educators for vaccinations as the Medical Officer of Health advised it did not have the authority to contravene provincial vaccination guidelines.
At that meeting Sandison voted against the motion to prioritize educators but says in the letter posted on Twitter that that motion should have been ruled out of order and he voted against it because of the Medical Officer of Health’s advice.
