And Krohn also gave his views on the October 1st regulation - requiring your vax card or a negative test to enter government buildings. And while he says he's all for a vax mandate, he isn't in favor of how the government is implementing these regulations. He feels that it should be the stricter and more enforceable route of no jab, no job.
Stewart Krohn, President, BTIA
"Let us remember the goal, the only way we are going to defeat or at least control COVID is through increased vaccinations, that is the goal. I think how people can differ is how do we reach that goal. Mandates are certainly, I think, the way to go if you see they've worked elsewhere to get vaccination rates up, I think the question then is what type of mandate? The government seems to be favoring a mandate based on entering buildings. So they'll start with you can't enter government building without a proof of vaccination and I think that makes a certain amount of sense, the type of mandate that BTIA has favored is sort of an employer based mandate in terms of no jab, no job type of approach and the reason we have that difference is I think we feel that the mandate about entering buildings, once you take it beyond government buildings and you move it to the private sector then it becomes very unworkable, it's very difficult for every little shop to hire someone who all they're gonna do is check your vaccination card. The danger as we see it in having a mandate like that that is unenforceable, once you have people disregarding that regulation then it kind of breaks down the whole system so once people start disregarding the building entry mandate, they're gonna stop wearing mask, in other words it doesn't advance the goal of getting vaccinations. An employer based mandate, it seems a little harsh, I don't wanna lose my job, but this is such an emergency, this is suck a life and death situation that we think sometimes we have to be a little harsh if we're gonna save the lives and ultimately that is what it's about."
