St Vincent and Grenadines make vaccine mandatory for teachers, other staff

Kingstown, St Vincent and the Grenadines: The government has announced that it will be now mandatory for the teachers and the other staff members of the school to get their COVID-19 vaccines.

Prime Minister – Ralph Gonsalves cited that, “On the basis of the advice which we had received, which also includes advice from the medical officials, those on the Health Services Subcommittee of NEMO – (National Emergency Management Organisation), it was decided to put in these regulations, to include teachers as well as the frontline workers.”

PM emphasized that the other staff members working at the schools, the cooks and everybody else who comes in contact with the students must also have to vaccinate themselves.

PM asserted that this decision had been taken amid the rise in the COVID-19 infection rate in the island country. He added, “Basic reasons are behind this decision. First of all, there is a small increase in the number of persons who are contracting COVID; positivity rate is in excess of 10 per cent.”

“Secondly, the fact that we all have a number of young people, students who have been contracting COVID-19, while parents and the teachers have been calling & the general public for us to include the teachers and on balance, it was decided, yes, given what is taking place.”

Seeing the fewer number of teachers getting vaccinated in some of the schools, he encouraged them to take their doses of coronavirus vaccine.

He cited that, “Citizens to forget that this virus outbreak needs a host. The host is the human being & the virus moves because the human moving and you come into contact with one another, and it is easily transmissible this particular variant, and it’s more serious about making you sick more easily.”

He further asked the citizens to strictly follow the COVID-19 protocols such as – wearing masks, sanitizing frequently and maintaining a social distance.