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Unvaccinated non-sworn police staff a concern

Sam Sherwood

Concerns are being raised within police about the risk unvaccinated non-sworn staff present to colleagues and the public.

Non-sworn staff are not covered under the Covid-19 vaccination mandate announced by the Government last week, which deals with sworn members of police staff, recruits and authorised officers.

As of yesterday, 94 per cent of constabulary staff were fully vaccinated, compared with 91 per cent of non-sworn staff.

The Press understands there is strong dissatisfaction from within police about having unvaccinated non-sworn staff working alongside them in police stations and the risk it presents.

Police Association president Chris Cahill said he was aware of the concerns, but it was ‘‘highly’’ likely the vast majority of non-sworn staff would eventually fall under the mandate.

‘‘It’s a legitimate concern and one that police are working through because the mandate has a second level, which is that you can apply a criteria to see if you need to mandate other staff and that’s what police are now working through,’’ he said.

Non-sworn staff on front counters were likely to meet that criteria, while staff working away from the public may not.

‘‘[You are] more likely to catch Covid from a non-vaccinated person than a vaccinated person ... It does put the officers at more risk without a doubt,’’ Cahill said.

After last week’s mandate announcement, Police Commissioner Andrew Coster said the police executive was considering whether the Covid exposure assessment framework applied to nonsworn staff.

All constabulary staff, authorised officers and recruits would need to receive their first vaccination by January 17, 2022, and their second vaccination by March 1, 2022.

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2021-12-04T08:00:00.0000000Z

2021-12-04T08:00:00.0000000Z

https://fairfaxmedia.pressreader.com/article/281749862638983

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