30th September 2021

Anglican Archbishop of the West Indies, Howard Gregory, endorses mandatory vaccinations

By Jamaica  Gleaner

Anglican Archbishop of the West Indies, The Most Reverend Howard Gregory, is urging the Government to embrace mandatory COVID-19 vaccination in the national interest.

Gregory, in a statement, highlighted that the country continues to battle with high infections and deaths.

And he says he is concerned about the hesitancy in the population and the prospect of dumping vaccines because of looming expiration.

Health and Wellness Minister Dr Christopher Tufton has disclosed that a significant portion of 60,000 doses of AstraZeneca might have to be discarded if shots are not administered by the September 30 expiry date.

“These are not normal times when every individual can choose to play by their own rules while untold suffering and loss of lives, well-being, the ability to conduct one's daily life and the return to vibrancy in the economy are at stake. We are in a critical time which requires unusual action and the good of the whole must count at some point,” Gregory said.

“It seems clear that the government, through the leadership, must do what leaders do in times of a crisis and take decisive action,” he asserted.

Gregory, who is also Bishop of Jamaica & The Cayman Islands, argued that while there are divergent views related to human rights and the law with regard to mandatory vaccines, there are sufficient legal luminaries who have pointed to the appropriateness of such action.

He contended that while mandatory vaccination does not involve physically restraining persons, the Government has a responsibility to protect citizens from infection by requiring proof of vaccination from public sector workers as well as their customers.

Likewise, he said, employers in various sectors should also have the discretion to determine the working environment they wish to promote for the well-being of their staff and the public they serve.

Gregory, who is fully vaccinated, repeated a previous appeal for all Jamaicans, in particular Christians, to take the vaccine as an expression of their duty to care for themselves and their responsibility to their brothers and sisters in Christ.

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