Division pauses vaccine requirement for students in extracurriculars, suggests provincial mandate coming soon

A Winnipeg school that's been ahead of the curve on vaccine requirements for staff is pausing its plans to mandate immunization for students wanting to participate in extracurricular activities.

The Louis Riel School Division won't be requiring students 12 and up to be vaccinated in order to compete in sports or take part in other school groups, division superintendent Christian Michalik said on Wednesday.

Michalik said the only reason the division is halting its own in-house plans to do so is because he is confident the provincial government is about to mandate very similar rules for extracurriculars.

"That's what they're suggesting," he said. "Because the decision could come soon and have us have to adjust the draft policy some more to be in keeping with public health … we thought it best to to hold off."

In September, after announcing the plan, the division touched base with students, staff and parents for feedback. More than 75 per cent of people said they were comfortable with the policy on extracurricular activities, said Michalik.

"I'm not surprised," he said. "The vast majority of Manitobans and Canadians are in support of the efforts to get vaccinated, efforts to mitigate risk."

Louis Riel was one of the first divisions to mandate COVID-19 vaccination for all school staff in August. Within weeks the Manitoba government announced its own vaccine mandate for all public school employees.

The preparatory work the division undertook before then meant by early September the vast majority of staff had already taken part in the division's own vaccine verification process. By Sept. 9, the division said it had confirmed 96 per cent of staff had provided proof of vaccination.