TORONTO –
Canada’s trucking industry wants the federal and US governments to exempt their workers from upcoming vaccination duties, but health experts say the proposal is problematic.
The Canadian Freight Alliance is arguing that if the government follows through with its current plan requiring all truckers traveling through Canada to be fully vaccinated for COVID-19 by January 15, the problems with supply chain and the country’s shortage of workers will worsen.
The CTA wants the government to keep the waivers it granted to trucks when the vaccine was made available earlier this year until the country resolves its supply chain issues.
However, health experts say the exemption will be unfair because other industries are also facing labor shortages and are not exempted.
Timothy Sly, professor emeritus at Ryerson University’s School of Occupational and Public Health, believes truckers should not be exempt because they are delivering goods across North America and can easily carry the virus. to uninfected places.
He says these workers have had enough time to shoot and should increase when the occasion comes, especially since a new variant is spreading.
