Covid 19 Delta outbreak: Porirua City Council proposing mandatory vaccinations for staff

Staff will be consulted on the mandetory vaccination proposal before any decisions are made. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Porirua City Council is proposing to make Covid-19 vaccines mandatory across the organisation.

Chief Executive Wendy Walker said it was time to consider how to best protect staff and the community, with the nation preparing to transition to the Covid-19 Protection Framework- also known as the traffic light system.

"Covid-19 presents a significant health and safety risk to our workforce and the communities we serve, and the Delta variant has increased this risk," she said.

"We have a number of staff working in public-facing roles which increase their chances of catching Covid-19 or spreading it to the vulnerable communities we work with, so there's a strong case to require people in these roles to be fully vaccinated."

Walker said the virus could easily spread from people in public-facing roles to those who worked in other parts of the council, and vice versa.

"For this reason, I'm considering mandatory vaccination for all roles, as a high level of vaccination across the organisation is the best practical step we can take in response to the challenge we collectively face."

Consultation on the proposal is open until November 19.

Walker said all responses would be considered before any decisions were made.

"These are unusual and unsettling times, but my commitment is to provide a workplace that is safe for the people who work here and provides reassurance to our customers and the community."