28% of Tobago fire officers vaccinated

President of the First Divisional Fire Officers’ Association David Thomas has said only about 28 per cent of the fire officers in Tobago are vaccinated.

The island has close to 350 fire officers.

“We had done a survey of fire officers who have been vaccinated during the first week of January, and the numbers that we were able to record in Tobago is about 28 per cent,” he told Newsday on Tuesday.

Thomas could not say how many officers have been vaccinated since then, but noted the vaccinated fire officers are in solidarity with those who are not yet vaccinated or have opted not to do so.

At a news conference on December 18, the Prime Minister declared that all unvaccinated public servants must get their first jab by January 17 or be furloughed. Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi later said there was no guarantee that those who are furloughed will be reinstated.

Saying the decision to be vaccinated should be a personal choice, Thomas argued the Government’s stance “could never be acceptable in a true democracy.”