There hasn’t been much change in the status of the territorial public service under the COVID-19 vaccine mandate over the Christmas break.

John Streicker, the minister responsible for the Public Service Commission, provided the latest numbers to the Star this morning.

He said the percentage of government workers is holding steady at just below 95 per cent for full-time permanent staff.

Ninety-five full-time staff are on unpaid leave. Amongst the on-call, casual and seasonal workers, 187 people haven’t turned in their documentation.

Streicker, as he has said before, isn’t expecting the seasonal workers to respond to the government’s request until they’re scheduled to resume their duties.

So far, 25 requests for exemptions have been accepted. Approximately six more are making their way through the process.

Some of the 95 people on unpaid leave have had their applications rejected, Streicker said.

That has held the numbers stable amongst the full-time ranks.

He said he believes many of the remaining people are entrenched in their beliefs, and are unlikely to agree to be vaccinated against the virus.

“I want to make it a point once again to say I thank these people for their service to the Yukon,” Streicker said.

Public service workers have until the end of the month to provide proof they are fully vaccinated with at least two shots. The mandate policy was initially announced on Oct. 15, 2021.

At Wednesday’s weekly COVID-19 briefing, the acting chief medical officer of health, Dr. Catherine Elliott, fielded questions as to what constitutes fully a in light of the booster shots many people are receiving.

“Like it or not, there are now two definitions of fully vaccinated: two shots and three shots,” she said.

There has been no word from the government as to whether it will make three shots the new official policy.