A Kelowna gym has announced that it won’t be taking new membership applications from anyone who’s received a COVID-19 vaccine until 2023 at the earliest.
Flow Academy offers classes in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, kickboxing, yoga, meditation and more, but for the foreseeable future those classes will only be available to those who haven’t been vaccinated.
A notice on the membership section of the gym’s website explains the decision.
“This decision was made after much discussion with other health, wellness and fitness-related facilities across Canada (both public and private), as well as liability insurance companies,” the message reads.
“To put it simply, the unknown health effects of the mRNA vaccines, as well as reported side effects such as viral shedding, seizures and death following the administration of these vaccines, are not covered by our liability.”
Interior Health is familiar with the gym, as the health authority said it has already issued an order and ticket to Flow Academy on back-to-back days in February for not complying with public health orders.
In a statement to NowMedia, IH expressed its disagreement with the gym’s stance on vaccinations.
“There is no public health basis for a policy excluding people who are immunized against COVID-19,” the statement explained. “Immunization prevents the spread of disease and protects patrons and staff.”
Flow Academy said that it will re-evaluate the policy "when clinical trials of this experimental injection are completed in 2023.”
NowMedia has reached out to the gym for further comment but we have not yet received a reply.
