25 Jan 2022

Unvaccinated Thames-Coromandel mayor chairs meeting remotely

12:14 pm on 25 January 2022

The unvaccinated Thames-Coromandel mayor has chaired a council meeting remotely this morning.

The Thames Coromandel District Council buillding.

Photo: RNZ / Jean Bell

In December, the Thames-Coromandel District Council confirmed it would require all employers - and councillors -to be fully vaccinated by 17 January if they were on council premises.

Sandra Goudie doesn't have a vaccine pass so is not allowed in the council building.

Goudie refused to get the Pfizer vaccine, and said she will wait for the Novavax jab, which is not yet available in New Zealand.

She also called vaccine mandates "abhorrent".

Thames Coromandel Mayor Sandra Goudie

Thames Coromandel Mayor Sandra Goudie Photo: supplied

Fellow councillor Gary Gotlieb laid a code of conduct complaint accusing the mayor of speaking at an anti-vaccine public meeting last year.

Goudie also spoke to anti-vaccine group Reignite Democracy Australia in a 12-minute video published online last November.

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