Two members of PC caucus not vaccinated
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 13/07/2021 (1573 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Two PC members of the Manitoba legislature have not been immunized against COVID-19, despite ample time to get the shots.
All NDP and Liberal MLAs have had two doses of the vaccine.
“I can confirm that 34 of 36 PC MLAs have received two doses of COVID-19 immunization to date,” caucus spokeswoman Delaney Hoeppner wrote Monday.
The Tory party would not say if those two unvaccinated MLAs had received at least one shot.
“In accordance with the Personal Health Information Act, and in order to protect the personal health information of these individuals, I am unable to provide further details,” Hoeppner wrote.
That reasoning did not wash with NDP health critic Uzoma Asagwara.
“At this point, it should be a fairly easy question for elected officials and leaders to answer,” Asagwara said, adding the two MLAs should go public if they’re not actually able to get a shot, to raise awareness of the importance of everyone else doing so.
“We know there are some folks, due to medical reasons, who cannot get vaccinated. And it’s important for us to show respect and compassion, and to acknowledge it’s a reality,” said the NDP MLA.
“It’s actually all that much more important they share that with the public, so that we have an example of folks who might have medical reasons, but are still doing their part to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.”
On May 10, the Free Press surveyed the three major political parties on vaccination status, and learned three PC MLAs had not been vaccinated or booked an appointment to do so.
One of those three MLAs was too young to book a shot as of that date: Josh Guenter, who represents Borderland.
Health Minister Heather Stefanson got a first COVID-19 shot on April 22, and took leave for a medical procedure May 21, and had returned to work by July 6 (her office didn’t specify when she had resumed her duties).
Asagwara noted Manitobans are being asked to get immunization cards and prove vaccination status to enter certain businesses.
“It’s kind of hypocritical for elected officials to say that we support and expect that of citizens, but we’re not going to hold ourselves to that same standard,” said the MLA for Union Station.
“To me, that’s unacceptable.”
dylan.robertson@freepress.mb.ca