Citing virus as threat, Holness hints at vaccine mandate in future

While the Government has said it will not mandate the taking of COVID-19 vaccines at this time, Prime Minister Andrew Holness has not ruled out a change in heart – and policy – after an extensive public education campaign has bee exhausted.

Quizzed about the Government’s stance, Holness said that Jamaica’s Constitution would require that “there is a threat or danger to justify the abrogation or interference with the rights of the citizen”.

“I am of the view that the current health situation does give strong justification that we should give a directive for vaccination to be taken,” Holness said while speaking with journalists in central Kingston on Wednesday during his COVID-19 awareness tour in the Corporate Area.

That perspective may give succour to private-sector companies that have already imposed compulsory vaccination, or negative tests, on their workforce and telegraph that the administration is sidling towards a clear and coherent policy.

Private-sector lobbies like the Jamaica Employers’ Federation have criticised the Holness administration’s fence-sitting philosophy. Some of the Government’s own agencies, like the army and constabulary, have imposed vaccine mandates that run contrary to the prime minister’s statements.

PUBLIC EDUCATION NECESSARY

COVID-19 vaccines do not shield persons from contracting or transmitting the virus but significantly mitigate against severe illness or death.

Holness argued, however, that the Constitution required the Government to have a period of extensive public education encouraging the population to get the jab.

Jamaica’s inoculation drive has limped since its launch on March 10, lagging well behind its English-speaking Caribbean neighbours in per capita take-up. Compliance soared in August, which has accounted for around 400 virus-related deaths.

At 6 p.m. Wednesday, the health ministry’s online tracker showed that 151,755 people, or 5.3 per cent of the population, were fully vaccinated. The country has surpassed 600,000 total doses.

The intensity of the crisis is not lost on the prime minister.

“My being here moving around, driving around, talking to people is to ensure that I can show to a court of law or anyone who would be critical of any mandate or compulsory vaccination. We would be able to show that the Government exhausted a programme of public education of explanation, of public information,” Holness said.

The prime minister said that his interactions on the ground revealed that many Jamaicans were willing to take the vaccine.

“Some people just have not been confronted about taking the vaccine, so it’s not an issue for them. Somebody needs to go to them and say, ‘Hey, take the vaccine.’”