COVID-19 Vaccination Policy: Thank you, Defence Team

December 7, 2021 - Defence Stories

Defence Team,

We want to thank you again for all your support and patience over the past six weeks with the implementation of the Government of Canada’s Policy on COVID-19 Vaccination and the CDS Directives 001 and 002 on CAF COVID-19 Vaccination.

You helped us ensure that all vaccine attestations for the Defence Team have been completed. We had a very short timeline to implement the policies and we crossed a critical milestone. Despite the challenges of mobilizing a large, diverse and complex workforce with both military and civilian staff all across the country and in a wide variety of workplaces, we can now confirm that we have visibility on the vaccination status of 99.9 per cent of the Defence Team.

We also want to thank all Defence Team supervisors and managers for tireless efforts to ensure that every member was engaged and accounted for, and received all the support and resources they needed. Because of our efforts, we now know that 98.2 per cent of Defence Team members are either fully or partially vaccinated.

Our work is not done. As we now shift our attention to completing the review of accommodation requests, processing administrative measures as a result of non-compliance with the policies, and implementing audit requirements, we want to thank personnel and leadership for your cooperation. As Defence Team members return from leave and new members arrive with the vaccination policies in place, we are relying on your continued vigilance to ensure our continued adherence to the vaccination policies.

We know it has been a challenging process. Ultimately, our goal was to ensure that all members attested and steps are taken to ensure compliance with the policy. As the Defence Team, our collective efforts have ensured the health and safety of our personnel and improved vaccination rates across the DND/CAF.

Thank you.