BANFF – COVID-19 vaccinations are now mandatory for all Town of Banff employees.
There are at least 151 active COVID-19 cases in Banff and Lake Louise as of Wednesday (Aug. 18), making Banff National Park the COVID-19 per capita hotspot in Alberta and possibly Canada.
Town of Banff officials say they had a meeting with all municipal employees on Aug. 12 before rolling out the mandatory vaccination policy in the fight against the novel coronavirus.
Silvio Adamo, the Town of Banff’s director of emergency management, said the new policy requires all municipal staff to be vaccinated unless they have either a medical or religious exemption.
“We had a pretty good understanding of who we thought were vaccinated within the organization, so we are only anticipating a very small number of employees that are not vaccinated currently,” he said.
“We have been having conversations and providing information … and each director is engaging their own departments in follow-up meetings to field any questions and assist wherever they can.”
Banff town council narrowly defeated a move to bring back a mandatory indoor mask bylaw earlier this month; however, masks are mandatory in all Town of Banff buildings and facilities, such as Town Hall and the Fenlands recreation centre.
Councillors Ted Christensen and Peter Poole wanted the mask bylaw brought back given the concern around the growing case count, however Mayor Corrie DiManno and councillors Grant Canning and Brian Standish were opposed. Chip Olver was absent.
The mask bylaw may be revisited mid-September if Banff does not reach a target of 8,100 double vaccinations or 9,500 single dose vaccinations. As of Aug. 17, 9,019 people had their first dose and 7,464 were fully vaccinated.
Adamo said it is believed the active cases are much higher than the 151 listed on the Alberta government’s website because out-of-province service industry workers currently living in Banff that test positive aren’t included in Alberta’s figures.
“With the influx of our service workers coming from out-of-province from British Columbia and Ontario and Quebec and other areas of Canada, if any of those folks test positive, we wouldn’t see those numbers sitting on our books,” he said.
“We believe that number is much higher than that.”
Adamo said he is concerned by the growing number of COVID-19 cases, but noted the municipality is not privy to how severe the outcomes may be in those cases.
“We don’t know of those cases how many are hospitalized, if any, or how many are in ICU, if any,” he said.
“We are operating slightly blind in that respect, other than knowing that we have at the very minimum [151] active cases, with likely more.”
A mobile vaccination bus will be at the Banff Health Centre Friday (Aug. 20) from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Walk-ups are accepted and people can also book online at www.acesomedical.ca/bookings.
Adamo said no health care card is required, which makes it easier for people in Banff from out-of-province or from outside Canada.
“We’re strongly encouraging everyone to book so we can then show Alberta Health that we need more dates,” he said.
“We’re in a bit of a lull here; we’re not seeing a significant uptick in second doses and we’re really trying to encourage everyone to finish off their course as soon as possible.”
