Tobago Chamber of Commerce rejects call for mandatory vaccination

President of the Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce Diane Hadad says the association does not support calls for mandatory covid19 vaccinations.

The association's position contradicts that of the Tobago Business Chamber, which has called on the Government to enact mandatory covid19 vaccine laws to allow certain sectors to reopen.

In a video on Friday, the chamber's president Martin George said while the association supports the phased reopening of the economy, the Government must be "more proactive, creative and innovative in finding ways to get us quickly out of this economic crisis."

George said, "The Tobago Chamber is recommending to the Government that they immediately consider implementing measures such as being put in place in France and New York, where you are able to open your business, entertainment sector, restaurants, bars immediately by simply having legislation that mandates that all staff workers and persons interacting must be fully vaccinated."

Some businesses have already implemented measures requiring employees to be vaccinated or produce a negative PCR test every two weeks. The Prime Minister has said the Government is not considering bringing legislation to make vaccinations mandatory at this time. But he said it may be forced to reconsider its position if deadlier strains of the virus emerges.

On Tuesday, Hadad said the Tobago Business Chamber's call for mandatory vaccinations in some sectors makes no sense. "I do not understand how you can call for mandatory vaccinations in some sectors," she told Newsday. "We all move around together so I do not know that it can happen.

"Some sectors mandatory and some sectors not mandatory? That actually makes no sense." Hadad said employers should not bully workers to take the vaccine. "I do not know that as employers we should take the position that we are going to threaten people for their income as against whether they are vaccinated or not."

She said employers had their unvaccinated staff working during the 18 months of the pandemic.

"There are a number of employers who had staff out there working and they were not vaccinated – and the employers opened their business doors. How do I put that now against telling them that you are to be vaccinated or you will not be on my work lots any more? It just does not add up."