The Surrey Board of Education has decided against mandating COVID-19 vaccines for staff.
In a release Tuesday , the board says that “after carefully considering the matter,” it won’t be mandating the vaccine.
“Our Board recognizes the importance of vaccines, and we continue to encourage anyone that is eligible to get vaccinated,” said Terry Allen, vice-chair of the board.
Allen added the board has “an obligation to our community to keep our schools open and to continue providing a safe learning environment for our students.”
“Schools are a low-risk setting for transmission and public health experts have assured us that our schools are safe and that we do not need 100% vaccination rates for safe operation.”
The release adds the board weighed the pros and cons of a mandate, adding public health officials “cautioned that a mandate may exacerbate inequities (lower vaccination rates among low-income, racialized minorities) and further entrench those who are opposed to vaccinations.”
This comes a little more than a week after the district said it was continuing to discuss a mandate after the Ministry of Education released “guidelines” to support school boards that are considering vaccine requirements. It essentially told boards to determine their own policy based on the “guidelines.”
The board pointed to high vaccination rates in Surrey and White Rock.
Surrey school-based staff were among the first in B.C.’s education system to be vaccinated after the region was hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic in the second and third waves. In the days after first doses were announced for Surrey school-based staff, district spokesperson Ritinder Matthew said between the Surrey school district and independent schools, 10,919 staff had been vaccinated by end of day April 4.
Read the Board’s full statement HERE