Employers are still allowed to implement their own jab mandates
The government of the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) has announced that it will be dropping its vaccine mandate for workers in the health and education sectors.
Starting 11:59 p.m. on May 13, the government's Public Health (ACT School or Early Childhood Education and Care Workers COVID-19 Vaccination) Emergency Direction 2022 and the Public Health (Health Care and Support Workers COVID-19 Vaccination) Emergency Direction 2022 will be revoked.
This means that workers in the education and healthcare sectors no longer need to get two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine.
Employers in these industries, however, may still implement their own COVID-19 vaccination policies, similar to how other workplaces have their own regulations on the jabs as well.
Minister for Health Rachel Stephen-Smith said the territory's direction follows the recommendation by its Chief Health Officer.
"The requirement for workers in the healthcare and education sectors to be vaccinated against COVID‑19 has been an important part of the ACT's COVID-19 outbreak response," Smith said in a statement.
"However, the situation has evolved and our exceptionally high level of vaccination coverage across the eligible population has reduced the risk of outbreaks and adverse impacts on health outcomes."
Meanwhile, Smith said that the government's vaccination mandate for workers in the aged and disability care settings are staying.
"Consistent with national advice, vaccination requirements for workers in aged and disability care settings will remain in place as the risk of outbreaks and severe illness among the people they care for is still high," explained Smith.
"The Chief Health Officer will continue to monitor the situation for these workers to ensure our public health directions remain proportionate,” Minister Stephen-Smith said.
Read more: ACT relaxes face mask rules but reminds employers to consider own policies
The ACT has added 1,027 new COVID-19 cases to its total tally, with 5,830 active infections as of May 3.
In terms of vaccinations, government data revealed that 97% of individuals aged 5 and above received two doses of their COVID-19 shots. On the other hand, 75.4% of individuals aged 16 and above have received three doses of the vaccines.
Guidelines for jab mandates
If employers want to introduce vaccine mandates, the government's Public Health Directions to require employers to "sight evidence of staff vaccination and document this status for reporting and compliance purposes.
"You are not required to make any copies of this evidence and instead can meet compliance and reporting obligations by recording vaccination or exemption status, coupled with the date of expiry where an exemption has been issued," said the government guidelines.
"As with any personal health records of staff, this information will need to be stored and maintained in accordance with the Health Records (Privacy and Access) Act 1997."
