https://www.firstroboticscanada.org/vaccinationstatement/
Interesting news from FIRST Canada that I am very excited to see, personally.
Vaccines mandatory to attend indoor FIRST events in Ontario (exemptions made for those not eligible/able to get the vaccine.)
Woot. My hope for in-person events in 2022 has increased a little.
I also want to highlight another bit from that announcement:
all Ontario FIRST LEGO League (Challenge, Explore, and Discover) and FIRST Tech Challenge Events, Qualifiers, and Festivals will be held remotely throughout the fall
This decision seems based on health and science, and not based on convenience. This is important to keep in mind as we all plan moving forward. Is science telling you to require vaccines but your participants are not eligible? That doesn’t mean it’s time for lenience but rather time to pivot the logistics.
Another fantastic standing/ruling from this announcement IMO. It would appear as though (just speculation on my part) that FIRST Canada is taking a very logical and safe stance on whether to run events based on the current status of the pandemic in Ontario. I would not be surprised if they worked (and are continuing to work) with local government and health officials to ensure the highest likelihood of in person events returning safely, in a timely manner.
@ every other district
see above ^^
Jealous.
Sensible policy from an organization about promoting STEM??!?!? I am shocked! Shocked!
My question would be enforcement - does each venue then have to find volunteers for checking and what happens if someone won’t listen? Great idea but the devil is in the details.
I don’t work for FIRST Canada, and this is purely speculation, however I would imagine they would limit the event to teams and volunteers only. From here they can make it part of the registration process to verify vaccination status of all event attendees.
Another possible solution could be to utilize the provinces new vaccine passport system. You would need to have volunteers at the doors checking you in, but I don’t see that as much different than having to go through security at champs.
As for what to do if someone refuses to comply… Well that to me is really quite a simple answer. They aren’t allowed to enter the venue, and should they really kick up a stink about things, campus security (most, if not all, events in Ontario are held at local Universities) could be contacted should the need arise.
Most events have campus security or a police officer present in the states, typically to help with compliance of various safety codes. I’d imagine Canada has something similar?
Oh absolutely! Maybe I could have worded that better, pretty much all events in Ontario (can’t speak for other provinces) will have campus security available.
A lot of live venues are doing this in the US. It’s very doable. There will be a good system in place.
Side note…my US based team, as it’s based in a live venue that requires vaccinations for performance attendees, now requires vaccinations (or weekly testing) for everyone, including FRC participants
Can confirm, went to a concert over the weekend where vaccines or a negative test were required and the first thing they did (before even scanning tickets) was check to make sure we had either a vaccine card or a negative test (both required to be a printed copy, no photos on a phone). They also ID’d us to make sure the name matched the vaccine card/test (regardless of age)
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