Protest outside Red House against ‘mandatory vaccination’

A small group of people walked from San Juan to Port of Spain on Independence Day to protest against any prospect of mandatory covid19 vaccinations.

One protester, David Welch, carried a national flag, while others wore red, white and black clothing.

Although reporters told Welch vaccination was not mandatory, he insisted it was.

While he said he had been granted permission by acting Police Commissioner Gary Griffith to be accompanied by 20 people, more people joined along the way.

“Today, we decided to have a walk from San Juan to Port of Spain because independence was taken away from us. Democracy is being taken away from us, and people have concerns when it comes to mandatory vaccinations when it comes to kids going back out to school in October.”

He said people are fed up and disgruntled and he hopes the Prime Minister knows people are fed up and want to be consulted before decisions are made.

“We are the people of TT. This flag represents democracy, this flag represents independence, and we have the right to choose whether we want a vaccine or not…”

Members of the group prayed in front of the Red House.

Welch said he believes the vaccine is mandatory because Dr Rowley said only vaccinated children would be allowed to access face-to-face classes, while unvaccinated children would be facilitated online.

“That sounds mandatory to us. That sounds mandatory to most of us. So we are saying no to that.

“We are not only saying no to vaccination for kids, but also no to vaccination for people who don’t want to take the vaccine…”

Rowley recently announced that fully vaccinated secondary school students in forms four, five and six will be allowed to return to face-to-face classes from October 1.

He urged parents to have their children vaccinated.

"I've heard all kinds of excuses as to why this is not a given, that there will be a significant proportion of the population who will not co-operate with that.

“If at the end of the period that we set, which is mid September, we look back and see a population of vaccinated students which is really below herd immunity levels of 60 or 70 per cent, the government will have to act.

"So far, we have left it up to the responsibility of parents to be reasonable, to be understanding, to be caring, and to be responsible. And if it gets to that, the government will have no difficulty intervening on the children's behalf, as we have done with measles...

"We will not do this lightly. If it has to be done, we will do it.”