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By Mel Rothenburger

Armchair Mayor

ROTHENBURGER: City’s vaccination compromises are imperfect but reasonable

Nov 3, 2021 | 3:19 AM

THE CITY’S VACCINATION SAGA took another turn yesterday and all is now well within City Hall, more or less.

It all began when Coun. Denis Walsh revealed recently he’s not vaxxed, and opposes mandatory vaccinations for City staff and for members of council. That got some council members calling for colleagues to be vaccinated or not be allowed to attend meetings.

Then administration announced Monday that employees could take “frequent” rapid testing rather than provide proof of vaccination by Dec. 15.

Then Walsh said he still thought that was going too far; then he said it was a step in the right direction.

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Then, Mayor Ken Christian proposed at Tuesday’s council meeting that council members be allowed to attend as many meetings as they like electronically until the end of the term, which was approved after a short debate.

That leaves one policy for staff and another for council, and who knows what might happen next, but it should all serve to calm the waters for now, though Walsh still thinks the rapid testing should be an option for everyone in place of mandatory vaccinations.

There are issues with his approach. We all know by now that being double vaccinated doesn’t guarantee we won’t carry the virus to someone else. Therefore, frequent rapid testing seems to make sense.

But the antigen rapid tests are known to be quite inaccurate in some situations, so they aren’t a total replacement for vaccinations. And then there’s the cost question. The provincial government will provide the tests to the City free but we still foot the bill.

Rapid tests are now available for as little as $10. Do the math on rapid testing all 700 City employees plus contractors and volunteers every 72 hours.

All compromises are imperfect but, all things considered, the testing compromise will provide a good level of protection at a reasonable price. And the Zoom compromise allows council to keep working.

I’m Mel Rothenburger, the Armchair Mayor.

Mel Rothenburger is a former mayor of Kamloops and a retired newspaper editor. He is a regular contributor to CFJC Today, publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website, and is a director on the Thompson-Nicola Regional District board. He can be reached at mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca.

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Editor’s Note: This opinion piece reflects the views of its author, and does not necessarily represent the views of CFJC Today or Pattison Media.