Sweeping New Policy Will Close The Door On the Unvaxxed
On October 1st, a sweeping new public health policy will come into
effect which could seriously affect a large percentage of Belize's
population.
Currently, about 60% of the population is unvaccinated. And next month,
they won't be allowed into any public space. That includes your
neighborhood grocery store, your favorite restaurant, your preferred
bank, any government office, and even a bus or water taxi.
The only way to bypass the vaccination card is to have a negative PCR
or rapid test which can range from about $75 to about $300.
The Minister of Health made the announcement this morning, and the
media questioned the legality of the move.
Hon. Michel Chebat - Minister of Health
"Arising out of the Cabinet meeting held on this Tuesday and in light
of the number of cases that we are seeing across the country,
government has decided to implement a new measure commencing on the
first of October and what that measure is that all persons entering
into a public building will be required to have a vaccination or
present a negative rapid test or PCR test. The rapid test is a 48 hour
test and the PCR test will be a 96 hour test. And so for clarity a
public building will include both a privately owned and a publicly
owned building and it refers to any building that the public has lawful
entry to so now only does it include government building, it would
cover restaurants, and grocery stores, it would also cover public
transportation so that buses and boats ferrying people back and forth
from the islands will also be included."
Reporter
"Does the government have the legal authority to dictate to a private
business owner who he can reject from entering his store?"
Hon. Michel Chebat
"Well we are in a pandemic and so the government goes have the
authority to determine how and where and when people can access certain
business and set the law in relation to this and I will say to you that
Belize is not the only CARICOM country that is doing this, if you look
at Jamaica, they have implemented it and most recently Guyana has
implemented it and this is just an expansion of what we've been doing.
Recently we've passed an SI requiring that patrons of Casinos must
prove their vaccination status before they enter and as well as BPO's
we have by law require that only 60% of their staff be at work at any
time and that 60% must be vaccinated so this is not new to Belize."
And while this is a huge obstacle for those who choose not to get the
vaccine, it can also be an issue for businesses who will start seeing a
downturn in revenue since a large percentage of the population might be
unable to patronize them.
Reporter
"Did the ministry take into consideration how much money these
businesses might lose because of this new regulation?"
Hon. Michel Chebat
"People would be able to access not only the vaccination cards but they
will also be able to access businesses if they present a negative test
so we do not anticipate that there is going to be any loss for any
business. We have over 170,000 who got a first dose and we have 79,000
who are fully vaccinated so the requirement is for one vaccination at
this time and please remember it is not only vaccinated persons but
person who feel like some reason or the other, they don't want to be
vaccinated then they have the choice of presenting a negative test."
Courtney Menzies
"These people they choose to go into a lot of these stores, they choose
to go into these restaurants to patronize them but if they have to pay
for a test, I know the vaccination is free but still it's their choice,
and if they have to pay for a test, they may opt not to go into these
stores and that's how those stores will end up losing money because a
lot of those people will say I just wah stay home."
Hon. Michel Chebat
"The point of all this is just the safeguard people, to safeguard
health. Time and time again the science has proven that it is with the
wearing of the mask, the social distancing, the washing of the hands
and the vaccines, these are the best defenses we have. If we don't take
some major steps as a country, we are going to be facing a major
economic crisis and so we are trying to avert a situation where we will
have to go through a lock down and then there is going to be a loss for
everybody in the country so it is important to communicate the need for
people to get vaccinated. Vaccination is the only way to get of the
situation we are now facing as a country."
Reporter
"Was the private sector, the chamber, the BBB consulted about this?"
Hon. Michel Chebat
"We are going to be engaging them and that's why we put the start point
on the 1st of October so give us an opportunity to meet with them and
to share with them the steps we're taking so that the business
community can be ready by the time the first of October comes around."
Enforcement Is A Problem
So every public space including public transportation. It's a huge
undertaking and the question remains if the government has bitten off
more than it can chew. Who will ensure that every small Asian store on
every block or that every taxi driver across the country will be
rejecting potential customers?
Well, the Health Minister said they're developing a unit just for the
enforcement of the regulation.
Hon. Michel Chebat - Minister of Health
"What will come along with this is what we call a COVID enforcement
unit that will be people who gonna be deployed throughout the country
and they will be trained to enforce the public health measures, we are
also going to be enlisting the assistance of JP's to help us in this
process."
Courtney Menzies
"And what about tourists, because you know you don't need a vaccination
to enter the country, and other elected officials because you know not
all of your Cabinet colleagues or elected colleagues are vaccinated,
what about them? Will they be banned from entering these stores without
a test as well?"
Hon. Michel Chebat
"The law applies to everybody whether you're a tourist or an elected
official or a citizen of the country, the law applies to everyone.
Again, the objective here is to try and get as many of our citizens
vaccinated as possible. We have now moved away from this concept of
herd immunity, with the delta variant and the rapid way it's spreading,
that concept has gone out the door so now we're trying to vaccinate the
majority of the people we can."
New Rule Has Two Exceptions
But on this long, long list of public spaces that must enforce the
regulations, there are only two exceptions. The hospital cannot deny
anyone and children under 12 are free to go about since there is no
vaccine for them. Again, you may be subjected to proving your child is
11 and not actually 13, for example. While the minister didn't touch on
that specifically, he spoke about the two exceptions.
Hon. Michel Chebat - Minister of Health
"Health care attention, medical attention will not be denied to anyone.
Obviously a part of this impetus of this step that we're taking is to
try and prevent people who are getting into these hospitals. People who
have medial conditions and cannot be vaccinated we understand that and
once they're providing a document from their doctor stating the reason
why they can't get vaccinated, believe me, we are reasonable. This is
not necessarily to penalized anybody, this is to try to get as many of
our people vaccinated as possible so we can try to curb the spread of
the infection and that we can release a little bit of the pressure that
our health care system is experiencing as a consequence of this
pandemic."
Reporter
"I heard you mention that schools will also have to impose this, is
that going to be applied to the students or those who are 12 and under
will be exempt since there is no vaccine for them?"
Hon. Michel Chebat
"Of course we can't implement a rule for somebody where there's no
vaccine so I think it's logical that kids who are 12 and under are
going to be exempted from it."
Pushback Against New Policy
And while the minister has made it seem like this will be an easy
process either get vaxxed or take a test Belizeans were not too
happy about the announcement. Many took to social media, as usual, to
air their issues with the soon to be implemented regulation. So the
pushback has begun - on social platforms at least, and the minister
said they expected it. But are they preparing for the protests and form
of illegal activity that may accompany the regulation?
Reporter
"I don't know if you are looking at what's happened in other countries
but you might see things like people protesting this, you might see
things like more fake vaccine cards coming into circulation, how do you
deal with that?"
Hon. Michel Chebat - Minister of Health
"These are all things that are expected, we have all taken steps to
tighten the vaccine cards, you now whenever there's a new measure that
has such a far reach, we do expect there's going to be some level of
push back by some sector of our country but at the end of the day, we
have to look at what's in the best interest of the majority of the
people of our country and at this point in time, getting the majority
vaccinated is by all the evidence what should be done and what is
needed."
Courtney Menzies
"What was the opinions of the other people on your COVID team, were
they onboard with this or was there some push back from them as well?"
Hon. Michel Chebat
"This is something we've been discussing and clearly it's a new measure
and so that there are many questions being asked and so we are gonna do
the best that we can to answer all of the questions and put out enough
information so that we can quiet whatever concerns there is."
A late evening release from the ministry says that Minister Chebat will
be hosting consultations with stakeholders and the public. These
consultations - the release says - will provide further explanations on
the implementation of the new measures. Dates will be announced in the
coming weeks.
Channel 7
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