Canada’s 300,000 federal civil servants have until the end of the month to get vaccinated, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Wednesday..And that’s also when vaccinations become mandatory to travel by air or rail in Canada..Civil servants who refuse to get vaccinated will be placed on unpaid leave, said Trudeau..Contractors, like cleaning staff, must also be vaccinated to gain access to government buildings..Those working for the government remotely must be vaccinated..If they are fired, they will not be eligible for Employment Insurance, say federal officials..“These travel measures, along with mandatory vaccination for federal employees, are some of the strongest in the world because when it comes to keeping you and your family safe, when it comes to avoiding lockdowns for everyone, this is no time for half measures,” Trudeau said..“If you’ve done the right thing and gotten vaccinated, you deserve the freedom to be safe from COVID. To have your kids be safe from COVID. To get back to the things you love..“For the vast, vast majority of people, the rules are very simple — to travel, you’ve got to be vaccinated..“If you haven’t gotten your shots yet, but want to travel this winter, let me be clear, there will only be a few extremely narrow exceptions, like a valid medical condition.”.About 88% of Canada’s population has had at least one COVID-19 vaccination..“Vaccine mandates work,” Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said..“These mandates will push us to a higher enough degree of vaccination so that our economy can continue to be open and our kids can go to school.”
