PHILIPSBURG:--- Minister of Health and Labor Omar Ottley made clear on Wednesday at the Council of Ministers press briefing that employers cannot dismiss employees that have not taken the COVID-19 vaccination. Ottley said that even the government of St. Maarten cannot force the vaccination on any of its civil servants, however, the only thing government and employers could do is to encourage its staff to get vaccinated and those that have questions about the COVID 19 vaccinations should seek out more information from their general practitioner.
The Minister of Health and Labor said that he is fully aware that some businesses have been giving their employees incentives if they take their COVID-19 shots’ but these employers cannot force or dismiss the employees that have not taken the vaccine.
Businesses he said can arrange for frequent testing at their own expense while they should continue with implementing the guidelines such as wearing masks and sanitizing constantly.
Ottley said since taking office he has enhanced the vaccination drive, right now 38% of the population has taken their vaccinations. He said St. Maarten does have a long way to go since 75 to 85% of the population has to be vaccinated in order to reach herd immunity.
Ottley said as soon as St. Maarten reaches herd immunity then everyone would be able to go back to normalcy.
