A dilemma to be avoided given there is time and a choice
In contributing this piece I realise my status as an “outsider” and one with no political intention or bias but merely a friend of the Solomon Islands wishing only what is best for the country its unity, progress, growth and prosperity.
That having been said, I acutely sense the dilemma the coronavirus pandemic has placed on the government, the Prime Minister in particular and on a proportion of the people arising from the need for vaccinations against COVID-19.
At this time of writing the country is free of the coronavirus that has swept the globe causing economic loss, unemployment, closure of businesses, border shutdowns and many deaths, especially since the transmission of the deadly Delta variant.
The world is slowly beginning to take steps to open up again given the push to get the global population vaccinated with two doses of COVID=19 vaccine equivalent to what has been termed as herd immunity with 80 percent and more of the population vaccinated during mass vaccination drives. In regional countries such as Australia, New Zealand and Fiji the surge in people getting vaccinated as been most marked since the Delta strain of Covid=19 managed to get a foothold in all three countries.
In the Solomon Islands the country must open for the same reasons other nations are now doing, but until the vaccination rate in the country reaches 90 percent of the population it is unlikely to be able to do so.
Unfortunately, the vaccination rate in the SI indicates that less than 7 percent of the eligible population has been fully vaccinated, and just 16 percent have received their first dose. This unfortunate situation is despite the government’s vaccination roll out programme underway in all 10 provinces of the country.
Both the Prime Minister and the MHMS Permanent Secretary have assured the nation of the safety of the WHO assured vaccinations and practically begged people to come forward and get their vaccinations.
The dilemma now facing the Prime Minister, and I feel sure he has no wish to impose and bring hardship on anyone, is having to enforce the government’s very difficult decision to impose a no jab no work rule said to come into effect on 31 October 31 this year, having once been postponed from a previous deadline of 31 August.
If such enforcement should come in effect then it will likely workers will be stood down on half pay and, if by 1 January 2o22 they have still not taken up vaccination then it is claimed their employment will be terminated.
In neighbouring Vanuatu the Director of Public Health yesterday flagged that vaccinations against COVID-19 will be compulsory for certain workers.
In the United States with the first doses of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine now being administered, the federal government is giving employers around the country the green light to require vaccinations for most workers.
More specifically, employers are entitled — and required — to ensure a safe workplace in which "an individual shall not pose a direct threat to the health or safety of individuals in the workplace." That can mean a company requiring its workforce to be vaccinated.
I am assuming the Solomon Islands government has the legal backing to enforce the “no jabs, no work” enforcement option but I feel confident a policy that is thwart will heartache and reluctance to have to impose.
I would therefore please urge everyone having concern for their own health, their family members, and their work colleagues and for the good and future progress of the nation to come forward in the next few days to get vaccinated.
Yours sincerely
Frank Short
