PRIME Minister Dr. Keith Rowley may have had his hands strengthened with respect to introducing vaccine rules in Trinidad and Tobago.
United States President Joe Biden has ordered that federal workers, large employers and health care staff must be vaccinated against the deadly Covid-19 virus.
This ruling would impact about 100 million Americans.
Biden said: “We’ve been patient but our patience is wearing thin.”
US media estimate that about 80 million adult Americans are not vaccinated.
In T&T, Rowley is facing opposition from some unvaccinated people in both the public and private sectors.
The teachers’ union has opposed proposed regulations to mandate vaccinations for the school community.
A trade union has threatened legal action against Republic Bank’s directive that corporate clients send only vaccinated representatives to do business.
There are vocal opponents of the Covid-19 jab on social media, with some arguing that the vaccination infringes their democratic rights and could affect their health.
Some have threatened to boycott businesses that mandate that workers be vaccinated.
It is not known how many people subscribe to that negative view.
Official statistics as of September 9, 2021 indicate that a total of 953,000 vaccines have been administered in T&T, with 421,000 people (30 per cent of the population) being fully vaccinated.
In the US, 377 million jabs have been given, and 177 million people (54 per cent of the population) fully vaccinated.
Biden told his nation: “We are in a tough stretch, and it could be a while.”
He instructed that all businesses with 100 or more workers must require workers to be vaccinated or be tested once a week.
There are fines for companies that do not comply.
The president signed an executive order requiring all government workers to be vaccinated.
He did not provide an option of being tested.
Biden also directed that similar rules apply to employees of contractors who do business with the federal government.
The US has 17 million health care workers.
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