Religious exemptions to COVID-19 vaccine mandate: Here’s what we know, what we don’t
Global News
The federal government has promised religious exemptions to COVID vaccination could be given out, though public health experts and ethicists say they would be few and far between.
With the final deadlines for federal COVID-19 vaccine mandates looming, many who haven’t yet received the jab are scrambling to take their shot, preparing to face consequences, or seeking an exemption for medical or religious reasons.
The new policies, set to be implemented at the end of October, come months after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau pledged to impose new proof of vaccination requirements across all federally regulated industries – including a mandate for domestic travellers not specific to federal employees.
While some medical exemptions simply include allergies to the vaccines themselves, the lines are somewhat blurry when it comes to religious conditions.
Here’s a look at religious exemptions for vaccination — who is eligible, how a person can get such an exemption and if it could potentially be used to avoid COVID-19 vaccine mandates in Canada.
A religious exemption to getting a COVID-19 vaccine is the argument that a person’s own religion or beliefs exclude them from having to get the shot.
Exemptions, in this case, could involve an outright ban on getting vaccines, or any sort of medical or invasive treatment done to one’s body. In other cases, some religions prohibit the use of certain byproducts like beef, pork or stem cells in some medical treatments – though none of those ingredients are proven to be included in any of the COVID-19 vaccines.
While the federal government and several provincial human rights commissions have promised that exemptions would be given out, public health experts, ethicists and even Prime Minister Trudeau have said they would be few and far between.
In a statement to Global News, the prime minister’s office said there would only be “very limited exceptions” to the vaccine mandate for travellers, in particular, to address “the realities of remote, fly-in communities; emergency travel; and exceptional medical reasons.”