Stirling-Rawdon Council declined to discuss a motion to update the municipality’s COVID-19 vaccination policy to include mandatory testing for every member of council prior to in-person meetings.
The motion was brought forth at Monday’s meeting by Councillor Sari Watson who is currently participating in meetings via Zoom because she is unvaccinated.
Watson said such a move only makes sense because Omicron is a much more transmissible strain of COVID and updated science shows vaccinated people are able to contract and transmit the virus.
No one on council seconded the motion so there was no discussion.
Mayor Bob Mullin told Quinte News one of the reasons updating the policy would be difficult is because it’s hard to get rapid tests.
In his opening statements at the meeting, Mayor Mullin also addressed a previous media statement issued by Councillor Watson, noting that the township has received concerns from local members of the Canadian Armed Forces.
The mayor said the township values the contributions of local military members and that her statements were her views alone and are not supported or shared by council.
Watson issued a statement earlier this month after she was denied a vaccine exemption saying she contracted COVID-19 early in 2019 from members of CFB Trenton who returned from from Wuhan, China and now has a natural immunity.
She says she is not comfortable using rapid tests because she believes they contain a known carcinogen.
