Ottawa police COVID-19 vaccine policy ‘not quite there yet’: Tierney

An Ottawa city councillor says the Ottawa Police Service (OPS) is heading in the right direction with its COVID-19 vaccination mandate, but feels the policy isn't quite where it needs to be yet.

OPS's policy requires all service members to be fully immunized against COVID-19 by January 31, 2022.

Cyrville-Beacon Hill Councillor Tim Tierney says, after initial public outrage over a lack of a vaccine mandate from OPS, the January deadline still doesn't sit well with some residents.

“Even though we shifted our timelines in the city by a couple weeks, that's it — a couple weeks in this city, we're not January 2022,” Tierney told CityNews Ottawa's The Sam Laprade Show on Monday, November 1. “In two weeks, if you're not vaccinated, you're not getting paid in this city unless you're, unfortunately, in the police service.”

The councillor is hopeful the timeline for the policy will shift sooner rather than later. “I think we've moved the needle, pardon the pun, but we're not there yet,” Tierney said.

Tierney also hopes the Ottawa Police Services Board (OPSB) and its chair, Diane Deans, keeps pushing and working toward change on the policy.