Election workers needn’t be vaccinated
Well this sucks. I applied to work for the election, as I’ve done before, but now there’s news that they won’t require poll workers to be vaccinated.
When you work at a poll, you’re assigned to a table with two or more randomly chosen people. You have to sit next to them all day, then you collaborate closely at the end as you count the ballots and double‑check that all the numbers add up. This item says Elections Canada will make people “follow distancing guidelines” but that’s nonsense. You have to do the job and you have to do it with other people.
I’m going to withdraw my application. This is bullshit.
Vazken 19:56 on 2021-08-16 Permalink
this is horrible!!! same boat as you now. Was going to do it but that’s a big nope now.
Kate 20:10 on 2021-08-16 Permalink
This is bad news for election turnout, too.
Kevin 21:29 on 2021-08-16 Permalink
I really don’t understand this reluctance to mandate vaccination by various groups.
Kate 22:09 on 2021-08-16 Permalink
It’s the damage being done by anti-vaxxers to waverers. The government is nervous to be called out for being doctrinaire about it.
EmilyG 22:09 on 2021-08-16 Permalink
I agree. This is terrible.
JP 23:22 on 2021-08-16 Permalink
Kate, I don’t disagree with you that they should mandate that workers be vaccinated, but ultimately, wouldn’t an un-vaxxed person be more vulnerable than you (since you’re fully vaccinated) and since vaccinated people can (in theory) pass along the virus, does it make much of a difference? I’m genuinely asking and apologize in advance if there is a major flaw in this way of thinking. I’m sort of in a similar boat…
H. John 01:07 on 2021-08-17 Permalink
have to agree this is sounds stupid.
I’m sure there will be more news coverage on why Elections Canada made this choice; and, hopefully some pressure to get them to rethink their choice.
Kate you wrote “the government is…”
This is an Elections Canada choice, and not a “government choice”.
Trudeau’s caretaker government couldn’t overrule Elections Canada even if they wanted to.
H. John 01:48 on 2021-08-17 Permalink
Kate, I thought you make a really good point.
I wrote a complaint to Elections Canada; and I tweeted two journalists I follow and really respect who have both spent the last 6 months tweeting about covid issues: Josée Legault (Journal de Mtl), and Patricia Treble (Macleans).
@JoseeLegault
Wondering about Elections Canada’s choice to not require employees to be vaccinated?
On a local blog, people are explaining why they won’t work for Elections Canada this election.
mtlcityweblog.com
@PatriciaTreble
Wondering about Elections Canada’s choice to not require employees to be vaccinated?
On a local blog @MTLCity, people are explaining why they won’t work this election.
Anyone else who is concerned, call, email, tweet your current MP, write Elections Canada, tweet any journalist you follow
JoeNotCharles 10:18 on 2021-08-17 Permalink
The danger of unvaccinated people is that an outbreak can spread among them. So you don’t want people to gather *in large groups* unvaccinated – concerts, crowded bars, etc. “2 or more” people – lets say single digits – isn’t going to matter.
If *you’re* not vaccinated and you’re thrown together with another unvaccinated person, you might be at risk. But you *are* vaccinated, so for you personally this is fine. From a public health standpoint this is also fine, because it doesn’t draw enough unvaccinated people together *in large groups* to risk causing outbreaks.
At this point many people still aren’t fully vaccinated just because of timing (I know some people who are still waiting for their second dose because they don’t want to mix vaccine types and they couldn’t schedule a scecond Moderna shot for another month), so requiring people to be fully vaccinated would shut them out of volunteering. If Elections Canada is already worried about finding enough volunteers, adding extra requirements for people to volunteer might risk shortages.
Bert 12:57 on 2021-08-17 Permalink
Will the voters be required to be vaccinated?
MarcG 14:08 on 2021-08-17 Permalink
For voters, the whole process is already pretty covid-friendly: physical distancing, in and out in ten minutes. It’s the people sitting there all day who have something to be concerned about. If Kate spends five hours in a stuffy church basement with a bunch of unvaccinated people, the chances of one of them having covid is higher, and therefore her chance of having a ‘breakthrough’ infection is higher. I understand that the risk to society at large is minimal but I think that most people make decisions like this based on the risk to themselves, which in this case, is not insignificant. I wonder how the number of people they’ll lose because of this decision compares to the number of people they would have lost if they required vaccination.
Bert 18:38 on 2021-08-17 Permalink
Yes, I understand. I am just playing devil’s advocate. If some poll worker gets infected on day 1, be it advanced or regular polling, then all the voters are also susceptible… Not accusing anyone of anything, but super Spreader. Wonder how they will handle tearing / passing of the ballot and the pencil. and even the ballot box.
Registration for mail by vote is super easy, and I think will be very popular. Just need a picture of one or two pieces of ID, in usual modern graphic formats. I am not the Great Karnac when I say that it will be a very popular choice this time around.
MarcG 19:47 on 2021-08-17 Permalink
If I can vote without breathing in other people’s lung air I will definitely be doing that. https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/indoor_socializing.png
Bert 19:59 on 2021-08-17 Permalink
Air is rarely being produced these days, so there are chances that you have breathed in something from Abe Lincoln, Genghis Kahn , Cleopatra or even some amoeba fart. Don’t even think about that tomato you ate!