Workers in healthcare and education settings across Canberra will soon no longer be required to be vaccinated against COVID-19, the ACT Health Minister has announced.
Speaking in the ACT Legislative Assembly, Rachel Stephen-Smith flagged the changes would come into place from 11:59pm on May 13, and would no longer require healthcare workers or teachers to be vaccinated against COVID-19.
She said the move was based on advice provided by Chief Health Officer Kerryn Coleman.
But Ms Stephen-Smith said the mandatory vaccination requirements would still remain in place for workers in aged care and disability settings.
"Vaccination requirements will still be in effect for workers in aged care and disability and other care as the risk of outbreaks and severe illness among people they care for remains high," she said.
The announcement came as the ACT recorded 1,027 new COVID-19 cases and another COVID-related death — a man in his 90s.
Ms Stephen-Smith said the health and wellbeing of the Canberra community remained "of the utmost importance".
"The ACT's nation-leading vaccination coverage and continued compliance with public health advice puts us in a great position to be able to tackle the winter season and the challenges this may bring," she said.
About 80 per cent of Canberra children aged five to 11 have now received a vaccine dose and 75.4 per cent of Canberrans aged 16 and older have received their booster.
Walter Abhayaratana, president of the ACT branch of the Australian Medical Association said he always knew the vaccine mandate was only temporary, and expected today's announcement.
"This was something that we expected was always going to be a temporary measure," he said.
Mr Abhayaratana also added that the removal of the vaccine mandate will shift the onus to employers to ensure they are providing a safe service to patients.
"There will be an expectation that our patients will likely have, that they are going to be protected by the staff that are fully immunised," he said.
"It now puts the onus on employers to be able to discuss with their employees whether they should be vaccinated."
