Convenor of People’s Anti-Corruption Movement [PAM], Lloyd D’Aguilar, is warning that any “forced vaccination” of workers via vaccine mandates could lead to social protests like those that have, or are taking place in parts of Europe.

D’Aguilar, in a statement, has charged that the Andrew Holness administration is “pro-vaccination but politically concerned that legislating same could cause negative, political repercussions – especially at the polls”.

Despite his claim, the government has not stated definitively that it supports mandatory vaccination although some companies have mandated that their staff be vaccinated or conduct weekly PCR tests at their own expense. So far, the court has sided with employers, upholding their right to protect other employees.

According to D’Aguliar, mandatory vaccination “proves to be a blatant form of discrimination against the unvaccinated and a total disregard for the science”.

“There is evidence in other countries that this form of discrimination will get worse in Jamaica,” he stated.

“The deeper issue … is that this COVID pandemic is creating conditions for the state to normalise disregard of citizens’ constitutional and human rights. This is unacceptable and we must not allow it to happen.

“Whether through the courts or in the streets we have a right, and a duty to put an end to this seamless drift into dictatorship,” said D’Aguilar.