During the initial months of the COVID-19 vaccine rollout, the majority of teachers in the BC education system could not wait to stand in line to get their first shots. They registered early and shared their excitement with their colleagues as they felt confident that they would finally be immune to COVID-19.
As weeks went by, my colleagues shared their experiences of receiving their first and second doses, but also shared that some of them had severe immediate reactions to the vaccine, or that they had previous bodily injuries that came back shortly after receiving their doses. However, none of them linked any of the side effects to the COVID vaccines.
While almost everyone at school was talking about getting vaccinated, and as the push from our government began, each member of the school staff received an anonymous email from a group of Concerned Teachers of BC. They stated that masks actually do more harm than good and that nobody should be mandated to wear them. I immediately responded back because now I know that I am not the only one who feels this way!
I am now part of the movement alongside hundreds of educational staff throughout BC. Ever since the BCTF and the School Districts were playing hot potato on who should mandate the vaccines to school employees, we quietly gathered online to discuss our action plan to combat this mandate. We had our private group on a few social media platforms and we held Zoom calls to stay connected. We also invited Action4Canada's Tanya Gaw to one of our meetings as the pressure was getting more intense.
Unfortunately, some teachers, administrators, or support staff have caved before the mandate was even implemented because of the immense pressure from colleagues, family members, politicians, friends, bus ads, etc. Some of them developed injuries on their first doses that were so severe, they were hesitant to take the second shot, even if it was mandated in order to maintain their jobs.
Now that the BCTF announced that it is ultimately up to each of the school districts to decide whether they want to mandate the vaccines or not, I took action. I called my local union and asked them if they will represent me if I choose not to disclose my private medical health information. The union representative responded that she "will not answer that question" and that the executives were having a meeting about this later that day. I think this means that they will not represent me if I choose not to disclose my information, but won't tell me this because they want me to continue to pay union dues.
After this, we had volunteers serve each school district in British Columbia with a Notice of Liability to all the school trustees so that someone would be personally liable for any injuries we might endure after being coerced into taking an experimental injection as none of the vaccine manufacturers are liable for any injury, or even death.
Weeks after serving the school districts with the notices, we first heard from the New Westminister School Board (SD#40) announcing that they will not mandate the vaccine for their staff! I was relieved to hear this good news as it gave hope for the rest of our province. Soon after this announcement, other school districts followed and announced that they were voting no to the vaccine mandate! Our efforts were successful and so far, a total of 25 school boards have voted NO and not 1 school board has voted YES to vaccine mandate at all!
This was not an easy feat. We spent many hours working together to protect our rights and freedoms to choose what we want to do with our own bodies. As an educator, we have the responsibility to teach our students to privacy, personal empowerment, critical thinking, and personal decision making. We do not let other people bully us into doing something we do not want to do. I believe that these mandates are unlawful and that standing up for ourselves and our children is crucial.