Big win for B.C. police officers moving up the vaccination list

The National Police Federation is pleased with the provincial government’s decision to bump officers up the vaccination list.

Last month, the federation called on the province to adopt the National Advisory Committee on Immunization guidance after it was previously determined by the government RCMP and police were not essential services.

BC Director, Rob Farrer told Vista Radio rising up the immunization list is a huge win as the pandemic has taken a toll on police officers.

“We have had 24-hundred instances in this province where employees of the RCMP have had to self-isolate for 14 days this creates a downstream effect of course with public safety.”

“We can’t have a safe public without the officers being out there. Twenty-four hundred times we have had isolation for 14 days, that doesn’t mean they have always tested positive but they’ve had close contacts. It was very important for us that we got that message across (to move up the list).”

He adds while the final details haven’t been confirmed, Farrer expects officers to be vaccinated between now and May.

Farrer added the process towards getting vaccinated will be that much easier with the employer and respective detachments taking care of appointment bookings.

“Our officers are stationed in communities all over BC in some remote communities so the process will be similar to how some of the nurses have done it in those communities. The rollout, of course, the devil is in the details as we have heard some challenges with the phone-in system. My parents are a little bit elderly in Saskatchewan and they have said there have been some issues with the phone in system there but with anything during this pandemic, not much about this is easy.”

Farrer also noted officers don’t have the option to stay home, telework, or isolate themselves within a bubble – they must be out in the public at all times.

“We have many instances every day where officers have to arrest people or go to calls with mental health crises or in some instances they have to go to protest rallies of people who are anti-mask where everybody and in some cases, hundreds of people aren’t wearing masks or are socially distanced.”

BC RCMP Assistant Commissioner, Criminal Operations Officer, Core Policing Eric Stubbs submitted the following statement:

We are very pleased to hear the announcement made today by the BC Premier John Horgan, that frontline workers, including the police, will be prioritized to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, starting in April.

We don’t yet have the specifics as to how the vaccine will be rolled out, to whom, and when. We look to learning more in the upcoming days, and once we have a greater understanding, we will ensure that our employees are notified first.

We want to extend our thanks to Dr. Henry and Ministers Dix and Farnworth for their efforts in moving this forward and including police as a priority group. Our COVID-19 team has been working closely with them and our other partners at the Province of BC, from the onset of the pandemic.  We are looking forward to that continued partnership, as the vaccine rollout continues. 

This is great news for all our officers and employees who have been working in these unforeseen circumstances across the province on and off the frontlines throughout the pandemic. I couldn’t be more proud of them and their efforts, in representing the RCMP in BC.