Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi: T&T govt will continue its vaccine mandate policy for public servants

Trinidad and Tobago: Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi clearly informed on Thursday that they would continue to go with the policy of paying only vaccinated government workers, and the mandate vaccination policy will not be taken back by the Cabinet. 

Although the legislation to the effect that policy is to go before Parliament in the month of January 2022. 

The statement of the Attorney General comes after the day, Joint Trade Union Movement (JTUM) called on the government to dump the policy of mandate vaccination policy for the public servants.  

While addressing the media personnel, AG Al-Rawi asserted, “I returned to the administration team, and I can say today that the government is not in a position to withdraw its policy statement“. 

On Wednesday, the President of the trade union Ancel Roget and the Attorney General held talks on the matter, asking the government to scrap the mandatory policy, else the union would not have a dialogue on the matter with them.  

The trade union’s President highlighted this policy as “unilateral, high-handed, dictatorial“, while he accused Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley. He then also asked the AG Al-Rawi to show proof which demonstrates that the vaccinated government workers will not contract COVID-19 mutant. 

The AG Al-Rawi, in his befitting reply to the above question, asserted that no such evidence so far has been fetched, which will demonstrate it. 

Roget noted, “We believe that the outcome of more people being vaccinated can be accomplished through public education and a different type of approach, a collaborative approach, not the badgering. The badgering will only produce a counter-type of effect, where there will be stout resistance”. 

Following his statement, he highlighted that he himself is inoculated, adding the union is not against vaccination, “but we are pro-choice”, to which AG Al-Rawi slammed him saying, he can decide to get vaccinated but not be in support of others taking a vaccine.