(Ottawa) The Chief of Defense Staff plans to change vaccination requirements within the Canadian Armed Forces in the coming weeks.
Posted at 6:30 p.m
Lee Berthiaume The Canadian Press
But General Wayne Eyre also defends the use of compulsory vaccination, a measure he says is necessary to ensure the army is ready for any emergency.
Mr Eyre made the comments in an interview with The Canadian Press, as hundreds of service members have still not been vaccinated against COVID-19 despite an order from the Joint Chiefs of Staff in late 2021.
That order is still in effect, although a similar policy for most other federal officials was suspended by Ottawa last June.
General Eyre explains that the military is different from other departments and agencies because of the way it works and its importance as the nation’s ‘insurance policy’. “We have to be operationally ready,” he said.
“We have to go to dangerous places and seal off tight quarters, we have to station abroad where there is a potentially increased threat from the pandemic. We also do not know the course of this pandemic, where it will go in the future. »
When General Eyre ordered all military personnel to be vaccinated against COVID-19 last October, he explained that this was both to protect the army and “to show leadership” while the Liberal government imposed a mandatory vaccination policy for the entire public Federal service passed.
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The Department of Defense said more than 98% of Canadian soldiers complied with the Joint Chiefs of Staff’s order. Last June, Defense Minister Anita Anand was informed that 1,137 military personnel were still unvaccinated.
Anyone who refuses to be vaccinated risks being expelled from the army. According to the ministry, 241 unvaccinated soldiers have been released and disciplinary action has been taken against hundreds more.
General Eyre would not say whether soldiers are still being expelled or whether these measures have been suspended pending the outcome of his investigation.
The chief of staff said he was trying to strike a good balance between the legal, medical, operational and ethical aspects of the matter.
“In the next few weeks we will refine the policy, we will release something modified. But we also need to recognize that this is a dynamic environment and things can change, the trajectory of the pandemic can change. We must therefore maintain this flexibility. »
He added that not only has the military been called upon to support pandemic-hit communities at home, but immunization requirements still exist in many allied nations and militaries.
The US military still requires all military personnel to be vaccinated, as do some NATO facilities and bases. “There will be operational requirements where (vaccinations) will be essential if you are operating with allies,” General Eyre said.
The chief of staff’s comments appear to contradict a draft revised vaccination policy received from Ottawa citizens last month, which proposed lifting vaccination requirements for military personnel. The draft document was not approved by General Eyre, officials said.
Vaccination requirements in the military have been unsuccessfully challenged in federal courts several times – most recently again in the past month.
The Department of Defense says there have been more than 9,500 cases of COVID-19 among military personnel, including 113 active cases as of Aug. 1. He did not say if there had been any deaths related to the disease.