By Sue-Ann Wayow
PARLIAMENTARIANS would not be exempted from the policy that all government workers must be vaccinated against Covid-19 in order to keep their jobs and get paid.
This is according to Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi who said the law could not be discriminatory.
He said all unvaccinated members of Parliament and senators will be impacted although Parliament itself, has not yet been designated a TT Safe Zone.
At a press conference on Tuesday to further inform the country of the new policy that was announced by Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley on Saturday, Al-Rawi said that on the Government’s side, every person was vaccinated.
Al-Rawi said, “The entire Government of Trinidad and Tobago, every single senator and every single member of Parliament in the House have publicly declared that we have all been vaccinated. Where we don’t have parity is with the Opposition and therefore the Parliament, quite interestingly, does not stand as a safe zone.
“We are required to not do as people do in a restaurant, not do as they do in a bar. It’s odd that (Opposition Leader) Mrs Persad-Bissessar would take the view of not allowing Parliament to be a safe zone.”
With reference to the law, the AG said, “The particulars of the law as it relates to Parliament will be a factor that we would work out in the final detail but it, certainly, the intention that this law applies to it. The Parliament is not intended to be an exception to this rule.”
Al-Rawi also clarified that unvaccinated members of the public would be able to access services at state establishments and crowd control will be implemented.
The AG as well as Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh have been maintaining that there was still no mandatory vaccination policy and that citizens had a choice, however, based on which choice was made, they will have to deal with the consequences.
Al-Rawi said, “Because you have a choice between accepting the recommendations in the policy of being vaccinated, your choice is you can receive the vaccine or not receive the vaccine. If you don’t receive the vaccine and you have your deferral certificates and you present yourself for PCR testing every two weeks, that does not resemble a mandatory vaccination.”
