PRIME MINISTER DEFENDS ADMINISTRATION’S NEW POLICY ON PUBLIC-SECTOR VACCINATION AND CHIDES UNIONS FOR LATE RESPONSE
Prime Minister Gaston Browne is defending his Administration’s new policy for unvaccinated workers in the public service, even as he claims that he will consider means to make testing cheaper.
Last week, the Cabinet decided that those who are yet to take the COVID-19 jab will have to be tested every two weeks at their own expense. Those who refuse to be tested will be sent home without pay.
Since then, the Antigua and Barbuda Trades and Labour Union (AT&LU) and the Antigua and Barbuda Public Service Association (ABPSA) – the unions representing government workers – have taken issue with the new policy.
They say the Administration failed to hold consultations on the matter beforehand.
Browne is justifying his position by saying that the large number of unvaccinated workers creates fertile ground for the spread of the virus; therefore, the Government has to put extra measures in place to encourage them to be vaccinated.
While the recent measures have provoked the ire of many, the Government has a duty to ensure that all of its employees are protected, Browne says.
Browne accepts that vaccinated people can also spread the virus, but says the probability of transmission among them is significantly less.
Browne says the unions have an obligation to assist the Government’s public-education drive, and criticized the AT&LU’s call for consultations. He says that it should have been working closely with the Government over the last 16 months.
The Prime Minister says it is too late now for the unions to come on board and suggest that there was no consultation.
