Hastings District Council has announced new COVID-19 vaccine pass requirements at some of its facilities.
From Monday, January 24, entry to the Hastings District Libraries (Hastings, Havelock North and Flaxmere
and the Hastings City Art Gallery will require proof of full COVID-19 vaccination by all users aged 12 years
and three months and over.
Hastings District Council Chief Executive, Nigel Bickle said it was a challenging decision to make, given the Council’s desire to ensure accessibility of council services to all of the community.
“What is of utmost importance is the health, safety and wellbeing of our staff in these facilities, and the wellbeing of our community.”
“With new community cases in Hastings and the likelihood of Omicron arriving shortly, this decision is about doing what we can to minimise the risks.
“Our libraries and Gallery and the services they provide are hugely important to our community and over the last 18 to 24 months our teams have developed programmes that will enable those people who are not vaccinated to still be connected and use our services remotely,” he said.
Mr Bickle said Council will continue to monitor the situation regarding other council facilities which, at this stage, remain vaccine pass-free. This could be reviewed as the COVID situation evolves, he said.
