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St Vincent to make COVID-19 vaccine mandatory for frontline workers
Kingstown – The St Vincent and the Grenadines government will on Thursday (05/08/2021) pilot legislation amending the Public Health (Amendment) Bill 2021 that it says will allow for certain categories of public sector employees to be vaccinated in order to work in “frontline” jobs.
“Given the extent of the misrepresentations, and misinformation by some persons about this Bill, it is necessary and desirable to put the record straight,” Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves said.
He added that the legislation “does not involve any legal penalty or punishment on anyone who fails and/or refuses to take the vaccine or test for COVID-19”.
Gonsalves said that it is the intention of the government, however, to make rules under the Public Health Act to require certain categories of employees in the public sector, including those in central government and state enterprises to take the vaccine in order to work in certain specified “frontline” jobs.
“The choice of working or not working in a particular job which requires vaccination in the interest of public health will be that of the employee. Individual rights are always required in the appropriate circumstances to be balanced by public interest considerations, in this case the requisites of public health. The relevant rules under the Public Health Act will be made and published in due course in the Official Gazette,” he said.
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Objective of the Public Health Amendment Bill 2021
The explanation below is a summary of the legal rationale and objective of the amendments to Section 43B (2) (a) of the Bill as provided by the Attorney General's Chambers. Read more
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