Leader of the St Vincent Opposition party Dr Godwin Friday said, while he would advocate for persons to get vaccinated, he is not for compulsory vaccination.
Friday said the government had made a mess of the situation by speaking out of both sides of their mouth. On the one hand, as though it was nothing to fear and on the other side forcing citizens to be inoculated.
“I am for vaccination, but not for compulsory vaccination, as Keith Mitchell says am not for that. But we have to encourage our people to do what they must that is to inform themselves and to take the recommendation of those persons who have the knowledge and make the right decision”.
Friday on Tuesday night in a virtual meeting said, “Ralph and the ULP have talked all around this issue, and now they are at a point where they want to force people, and that would only create a worse situation and a backlash.”
“So, we have to find a way forward in this terrible situation that we have found ourselves in, and I know that our good people would look at it seriously and do what is right for themselves and our nation.”
On Sunday, Minister of Tourism Carlos James said for the restart of the cruise season, the hope is to get vendors on board in the bubble, but they must be fully vaccinated.
“Those who are not vaccinated will not be allowed to sell to the visitors as the government is attempting to control their movement and also the safety of locals.”
James said once the vendor has met the requirement for the bubble, they will be able to come into the site to ply their trade, thus allowing them to continue making a living from the sector.
Speaking on WEFM last Thursday, Minister of Health St Clair Prince said that the new protocols at AIA would only allow for fully vaccinated taxi drivers to operate at the port of entry.
Prince says there are 350 registered authorized taxi drivers in the state, of which 31 on the mainland and 13 in Bequia are fully vaccinated.
Currently, there are 44 out of 350 registered taxi drivers who are fully vaccinated. Prince said it would be in the interest of operators to get vaccinated.
A July 25 report showed that 25,603 persons had been vaccinated, 15,711 have received their first dose, while 9,982 the second. There have been 2,280 cases and 12 deaths on the island since the start of the pandemic.
