Manitoba teachers and other school employees will be able to get vaccinated in the U.S., Premier Brian Pallister says.
An agreement announced last week that allows Manitoba truck drivers who regularly cross the border into North Dakota to get vaccinated in the U.S. will be extended to teachers and other school workers, he said.
“The way this will work is the person will go to the border, [cross], get a vaccine and must come immediately back. They’re not going shopping in Grand Forks,” Pallister said during a news conference Thursday.
Pallister suggested a possible cross-border vaccination site for teachers could be the International Peace Garden that straddles the Canada-U.S. border near Boissevain in southwestern Manitoba. He said some of the details still need to be worked out.
One possibility is to have a vaccination hub open on weekends so teachers can make the trip without having to take time off, he said.
When asked why the onus will be on teachers and education workers to drive across the border on their own time, Pallister said he thinks most teachers won’t see it as a burden but an opportunity.
Isolation rules lifted for teachers seeking vaccines
Isolation requirements will be lifted for teachers and education system staff who opt to seek a vaccine this way, Pallister said. Currently, anyone who enters Manitoba must get tested and self-isolate for two weeks upon arrival.
Federal rules require 14 days of quarantine for most Canadians after they cross the border, with some exemptions, but the federal government is permitting exemptions for teacher vaccination, he said.
The Manitoba government has been criticized in recent weeks for failing to include teachers on the priority list of workers who are eligible to be vaccinated.
The Manitoba Teachers Society echoed those calls again Thursday morning, ahead of the announcement, in calling for all Winnipeg schools to move to remote learning starting next week.
