Top cop supports police vaccine mandate, Government yet to make a call
Friday, 19 November 2021
New Zealand’s top cop supports a Covid-19 vaccine mandate for police, but the Government is still talking it over.
Police Commissioner Andrew Coster said he supported a mandate for frontline staff, and another police leader said it’s understandable for the public to expect officers to be fully vaccinated.
Eighty-nine per cent of sworn police staffers had received their first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine as of November 16, and 80.5 per cent were fully vaccinated. Among non-sworn staffers, 88.7 per cent had received one dose and 79.8 per cent were fully vaccinated.
Actual figures may be higher, police said, as those who didn’t get their vaccine from a police provider are not obliged to pass the information on.
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This comes as a video circulates on social media, with a collection of photos with stories from police officers who do not support a mandate and do not want to receive the vaccine.
No-one in the video was identified, and some said they were leaving their jobs.
Police Commissioner Andrew Coster told Breakfast on Friday that he supported a mandate for frontline staff.
'We deal with people in pretty unusual circumstances, including sometimes involuntarily, and sometimes much closer than we would like, so we can't control our environment - vaccination's a safety thing.”
There is no police-wide vaccination mandate, but some officers are captured under the education and health mandate.
Police staff at managed isolation and quarantine facilities, and borders must be fully vaccinated, but not officers working at checkpoint boundaries.
Police deputy commissioner of leadership and capability Tania Kura said police were required to enter people’s homes, so it was understandable for the community to expect them to be vaccinated.
“We have set a clear expectation on staff regarding health and hygiene in a Covid-19 work environment, including how they engage with the community using appropriate PPE, and promoting vaccination to ensure the highest levels of protection to keep our staff and our communities safe.”
She said the video showed some staff members had a different view on vaccinations, the same way there were different views in the community.
Police Minister Poto Williams said discussions about a police vaccine mandate were ongoing.
“We want a highly vaccinated population across all workforces to ensure the collective safety of all New Zealanders.
National's police spokesman Simeon Brown said the Government needed to bite the bullet and make a decision.
However, Brown would not confirm if he or National supported a possible mandate. He would support an investigation into the health and safety of the situation.
“For some roles it makes sense, but there are a lot of different roles.”
“If the government does decide to mandate police to have the vaccine, then it will be important that the government provides the right support and information to officers who are feeling hesitant as they go through this process.
He said the Government also needed to meet its target of 1800 extra sworn police officers, which it was already behind on.
Police Association president Chris Cahill did not know how many members were anti-vaccine or anti-mandate, but it was likely to be a relatively small number.
No police staff had been forced to leave due to their opinion on the vaccine. Cahill said he was not aware of anyone resigning for that reason either.
He said some staff members could have been required to change roles, but this was limited.
“We recognise there are differing opinions on any potential vaccination mandate for police, but the association does not see its role as one that makes medical or moral judgements on vaccinations.”
The video of officers who didn’t want the Covid vaccine featured writing on police cars, handcuffs, and uniforms. Cahill said the association did not think the use of police equipment to share an opinion was appropriate.