Association makes move to require vaccinations for Aurora Seniors Centre programs

The Aurora Seniors Association is planning to implement a mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy for participants of programming at the Aurora Seniors Centre.

The association announced the move to its membership Aug. 31, as it prepares to restart programming Oct. 4. The association intends to require people to be fully vaccinated to use their programs,although the Town of Aurora has yet to make that decision for its programming.

Association president David LeGallais said the board decided on the move after 97 per cent of respondents to its membership survey indicated they would be fully vaccinated by the end of August. He said the association also got plenty of submitted comments from members asking for such a policy.

“It’s just something we wanted to do because our age group is the most worrisome age group for COVID,” he said. “It’s for the safety of our members.” 

The majority of the association board backed the decision at an Aug. 16 meeting. LeGallais said the policy has yet to be written and legally vetted by their lawyer. Details are being finalized, and LeGallais said the policy would not go ahead without legal backing. 

The seniors association leases the centre from the Town of Aurora. LeGallais said the policy would only apply for association activities, not the programming the town also runs at the centre. The Town of Aurora announced a COVID-19 vaccination policy for staff Aug. 30, like Newmarket and York, but has yet to announce any policy requiring vaccinations for facility use. 

LeGallais said people should be able to use the COVID-19 vaccination receipts they get after being vaccinated, which is accessible through a provincial website if lost. 

“It’s a fairly simple procedure,” he said. 

Newmarket faces concerns about not yet requiring vaccinations to access programming at its seniors centre reopening in October. Town council has asked for a staff report for its Sept. 13 meeting about a vaccination policy for facility access, but has not yet committed to a direction.

The seniors association is also getting programming ready, as the centre opens for the first time since October 2020. It has about 1,600 members, but LeGallais said activity groups would be kept small to start. 

“We have to be pretty safe,” he said.