{"id":128640,"date":"2021-05-06T19:14:11","date_gmt":"2021-05-06T23:14:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/?p=128640"},"modified":"2021-05-08T19:19:37","modified_gmt":"2021-05-08T23:19:37","slug":"health-minister-says-no-mandatory-vaccination-for-st-lucia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/health-minister-says-no-mandatory-vaccination-for-st-lucia\/","title":{"rendered":"Health Minister says no mandatory vaccination for St. Lucia"},"content":{"rendered":"
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St Lucia TIMES:<\/strong> Health and Wellness Minister, Mary Isaac, has been responding to the question of whether the government\u00a0 here will introduce mandatory COVID-19 vaccination.<\/p>

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\u201cI don\u2019t think so,\u201d she told reporters on Thursday when they raised the issue.<\/p>\n

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Her response came against the backdrop of reports this week that Antigua & Barbuda\u2019s Prime Minister, Gaston Browne, had warned of the possibility of implementing a mandatory vaccination programme in\u00a0 his country.<\/p>

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Browne did so while criticising people who were encouraging others not to participate in the national vaccination programme.<\/p>

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However, Mary Isaac said she did not believe Saint Lucia will see mandatory vaccinations.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think different agencies may require their employees to take the vaccine,\u201d she stated.<\/p>

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\u201cBut from a government standpoint, I do not think that we will be requesting that it is mandatory,\u201d she disclosed.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut from a worker standpoint \u2013 employer and worker, they may require,\u201d the minister told reporters.<\/p>

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She observed that cruise ships are beginning to recall their employees.<\/p>

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And in this regard, Isaac said she would not be surprised if they request that the workers take the vaccine.<\/p>\n

However, she explained that she has not heard that the cruise lines are making such a request.<\/p>\n

As of\u00a0 May 4, 2021 a total of 24, 653 individuals here had received the first dose of the
\nCOVID-19 vaccine.<\/p>\n

And 6, 690 people had received the second dose.<\/p>\n

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St Lucia TIMES: Health and Wellness Minister, Mary Isaac, has been responding to the question of whether the government\u00a0 here will introduce mandatory COVID-19 vaccination. \u201cI don\u2019t think so,\u201d she told reporters on Thursday when they raised the issue. Her response came against the backdrop of reports this week that Antigua & Barbuda\u2019s Prime Minister, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":128641,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-128640","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-regional"],"yoast_head":"\nHealth Minister says no mandatory vaccination for St. Lucia - Antigua News Room<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/health-minister-says-no-mandatory-vaccination-for-st-lucia\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Health Minister says no mandatory vaccination for St. Lucia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"St Lucia TIMES: Health and Wellness Minister, Mary Isaac, has been responding to the question of whether the government\u00a0 here will introduce mandatory COVID-19 vaccination. \u201cI don\u2019t think so,\u201d she told reporters on Thursday when they raised the issue. 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