St Kitts and Nevis: Dr Denzil Douglas, Leader of the Opposition and the St Kitts-Nevis Labour Party, and Larry Vaughn, 1st Vice President of the St. Kitts Nevis Trades and Labour Union spoke recently at a Town Hall meeting in Newton Ground Village in solidarity with workers on the vaccination issue.
Dr Douglas, a physician of many years experience, fielded a lot of questions on the COVID-19 vaccination program after addressing residents of Constituency number 6.
He again reaffirmed his support of vaccinations, outlining the historical importance of vaccinations, generally in combatting contagious diseases and specifically the coronavirus COVID-19 disease.
Dr Douglas was again critical of the government for politicizing the management of the pandemic from the very beginning, in excluding the Opposition as a stakeholder. He told the attentive audience that the vaccination rollout program was ill-conceived as it did not provide citizens with the appropriate awareness and education exercises to combat the misinformation that is readily peddled in social media.
He stressed that the population, properly educated, will make the right informed decision to take the vaccine, but again emphasized that citizens and residents must exercise their right of choice of the vaccines available, and to take or not take it.
He joined with the SKNTLU Executive, who had spoken earlier, in expressing the view that attempts at forced and mandatory vaccination of private-sector employees and public servants by employers and Government respectively, must be strongly condemned and resisted by the people and relevant institutions.
