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B.C. education ministry forms committee to advise on vaccine mandates in schools

The education ministry is pulling together a committee to look at the issue of vaccine mandates in schools, according to the B.C. health minister.
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FILE – A physical distancing sign is seen during a media tour of Hastings Elementary school in Vancouver on Sept. 2, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward

The education ministry is pulling together a committee to look at the issue of vaccine mandates in schools, according to the B.C. health minister.

“We know there is a desire expressed by people in school communities for mandates in education and as such the education ministry… immediately convening an advisory committee,”

said Health Minister Adrian Dix on Tuesday (Oct. 5).

Whether or not that would result in any province-wide COVID vaccine mandate for teachers and other educational staff is unclear. Dix said that the committee would work with partners in the education sphere to “develop common principles, standards and guidelines to support boards with the potential implementation of vaccine mandates.”

Dix said that the committee will provide materials to school boards who “wish to explore vaccine policy independently.”

Masks are already mandates for K-12 students, teachers, staff and visiting adults in B.C. schools.

READ MORE: Masks mandatory for all K-12 students in B.C. schools as of today


@katslepian

katya.slepian@bpdigital.ca

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