The vaccination requirements to enter most buildings remain in place throughout the month of October but Minister of Health Dr. Frank Anthony says that many “big businesses” are not checking an individual’s vaccination status before permitting entrance.
During his COVID-19 update on Monday, the Health Minister reported that these businesses are not requesting people to produce their COVID-19 vaccination card before allowing them to enter the building.
This is, however, in contravention to the COVID-19 guidelines.
According to the COVID-19 Emergency Measures (No. 22), adults are now required to be vaccinated to access public buildings and some private buildings that members of the public have lawful access to, including learning institutions. If they are not vaccinated, they will be required to produce a negative test result from a recently done PCR COVID-19 test.
The vaccination requirements have been extended to the COVID-19 Emergency Measures (No. 23) that have been rolled out for the month of October. In these updated guidelines, Paragraph 7 details the measures that should be taken within the public and private sectors to ensure that employers and employees are kept safe from the novel coronavirus.
Previously, Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs Anil Nandlall, SC explained that though law enforcement officers are tasked with the responsibility of ensuring that the COVID-19 guidelines are adhered to, these officers cannot do it alone. As such, businesses and members of the public are required to aid in the enforcement of the measures.
This essentially means that managers and businesses are among those who should be helping to enforce the vaccination requirements by asking individuals to produce their COVID-19 vaccination cards before permitting entry into buildings.
“We need everybody to get involved.
“There are still too many persons and too many entities not playing that role,” Dr. Anthony said.
If this continues, however, the Health Minister said that the National COVID-19 Task Force (NCTF) may have to intervene and write letters to businesses reminding them of their responsibility to enforce the guidelines.
Dr. Anthony reminded the public that these vaccination requirements have been instituted to help protect the population from the spread of COVID-19 and from experiencing the more severe or life-threatening symptoms of COVID-19.
