Fiji announced that COVID-19 vaccines will soon be compulsory for all workers in the country. “No jabs, no job,” stated the Prime minister bluntly. The move comes at a time when the outbreak of the Delta variant is going strong.
No jabs, no job: One rule for all
“All public servants in the South Pacific nation of 930,000 must go on leave if they have not had their first injection by August 15. They will be dismissed if they did not receive their second by November 1, said Frank Bainimarama, the prime minister of Fiji. However, employees in the private sector must get their first jabs before August 1.
“No jabs, no job — that is what the science tells us is safest and that is now the policy of the government and enforced through the law,” he added. The policy seems like a hardline. However, it expresses the government’s frustration at the spread of the virus and dismissals of the guidelines.
COVID-19 vaccines can help avoid recklessness
So far, the country has been successful in stopping community cases. However, a breach of quarantine led to the release of the delta variant of COVID-19. “A hard lockdown, as some are calling for, cannot be strictly enforced everywhere in Fiji and our experts tell us it would not kill off the virus. But it would kill jobs and it could kill our country’s future,” said Bainimarama.
The prime minister managed to avoid a lockdown for the entire country. Moreover, the strategized and localized lockdowns in hotspots in addition to vaccination drives. “I have not been magnetized or micro-chipped by the vaccine, I have not received the mark of the beast or any other creature — the vaccine does not do that to anyone,” he added.
“My fellow Fijians, the end of this ordeal will come. Until it does, we must remain vigilant until more of us are protected. So, get vaccinated, wear your mask, maintain physical distance from others,” he concluded.
