The outcome of cases involving mandatory COVID-19 vaccinations will be known in the coming weeks. A Supreme court judge has set hearings for separate cases filed by employees of pharmaceutical company Cari-Med Group and investment firm AIC Jamaica for November.

Anti-vax lawsuits kick up a gear

28 Oct 2021/ Jovan Johnson

 

THE SUPREME Court is moving quickly to settle on whether it will grant injunctions sought by employees of two companies against the imposition of mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policies.

On Wednesday, a judge set full one-day hearings for next month in the separate cases filed by employees of pharmaceutical company Cari-Med Group and investment firm AIC Jamaica.

The Cari-Med matter will be heard on November 12, while AIC Jamaica’s will be argued on November 19.

The judge ordered that in both cases, all the parties are to file detailed submissions to allow for the substantive issues to be argued in November.

This is being done at a faster pace than what usually happens, a likely acknowledgment of the significance of the cases and their implications for the country’s industrial climate.

There may be more frenzied debate ahead after the Professor Gordon Shirley-chaired National COVID-19 Vaccination Operationalisation Task Force pushed for the implementation of a mandatory vax-or-test framework for public-sector employees.

However, that is likely to put the Government on a collision course with state workers with only 13 per cent of the Jamaican population fully vaccinated and opinion polls showing resistance or hesitancy of upwards of 65 per cent.

The country’s target of fully vaccinating two-thirds of the more than 2.8 million population by March 2022 is facing derailment.

Meanwhile, along with alleging breach of contract, the Cari-Med workers, including a pregnant woman, are claiming that the entity’s COVID policy breaches their constitutional right to life, among others.

The five employees from Cari-Med are being represented by attorney-at-law Yakum Fitz-Henley.

Meanwhile, the four AIC Jamaica employees are alleging contract violations only. They argue that there was no consultation.

The workers say they are not against vaccination but have reasons for not taking the jab at this time.

They are represented by Hadrian Christie.

Cari-Med has retained the firm Myers, Fletcher & Gordon, and AIC is being represented by Hart Muirhead Fatta.

THE NATIONAL COVID-19 Vaccination Operationalisation Task Force has suggested that the Government implement a vaccinate-or-test mandate for public-sector workers amid concerns over a slow take-up of COVID-19 vaccines across the island.

With roughly 13 per cent of the island being fully jabbed, Jamaica sits at the bottom of the list of Caribbean countries battling the pandemic, with only Haiti having a lower vaccination rate.

With the exception of the Jamaica Defence Force, there continues to be a low vaccination-penetration rate among front-line workers, with fewer than half of public-health nurses being fully vaccinated.

Professor Gordon Shirley, who chairs the task force, cited this as a major problem during a press conference on Wednesday, noting that driving up the vaccination rate among hesitant healthcare workers was a matter of priority.

“We cannot continue to allow them to put their lives on the line and not do the best we can to protect them,” Shirley said.

“We think it’s very important to do so. We think we have lost more public-health nurses and healthcare workers than we ought to.

These are persons who have put their lives on the line for the country, and we respect and honour them for having done so, but it would be great if we are also in a position to protect them, to give them the highest level of protection that’s available,” he added.

Shirley noted that the COVID-19 fight could become more difficult as persons from different demographics could also refuse the jab if the nurses who they trust remain hesitant.

He suggested that with the passage of a sufficient period of time to allow for voluntary vaccination, it was now time to consider a vaccinate-or-test programme for the healthcare workers.

This would require them to produce negative results from the pricey PCR tests at regular intervals.

“... Six weeks ago, we felt like the real problem was a supply problem because there was a groundswell of demand that was out there, and we felt if we just got the vaccines, everybody would get vaccinated. Now, we have a relatively good level of vaccination (stock) and the demand, we recognise, is not materialising,” said Shirley,

Recently, the island had to dump nearly 60,000 doses of expired AstraZeneca vaccines procured in April, having reached their expiration date on September 30.

More than 100,000 additional doses are set to expire by this weekend.

“The persons who were willing to come forward have, in fact, largely been vaccinated, and now we’re into those who are hesitant, and the surveys that have been done indicate that up to 65 to 70 per cent of the population is hesitant,” noted Shirley.

Shirley has also suggested that vaccinated Jamaicans be given preferential access to sporting and entertainment events, especially as the Christmas season approaches.

“Christmas is coming, and many Jamaicans look forward to a staff party and a Christmas party. We believe that there are opportunities to allow persons who have been vaccinated to begin to return to a level of normalcy that would be associated with events such as those, and Christmas would be an ideal time to have it done,” he said.

Shirley also pointed to an upcoming World Cup Qualifying match on November 12 at the National Stadium as the right place to test this initiative, suggesting that persons who are fully vaccinated could be allowed access to the venue, while also allowing persons who have not yet taken the jab to do so before entry.

 

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