A new Statutory Instrument (SI) has been introduced where frontline workers are being demanded to either take their vaccine or a PCR Test before going to work. The New SI has also expanded the category of workers who are deemed to be on the frontline. Under S.I. number 74 of 2021, frontline workers include Healthcare Workers, Police officers, BDF, Coast Guard officers, Customs and Immigration officers, Teachers, Tourism Workers, Public Transport Operators, Transport Officers and Public Utility Officers.
For these workers, the SI states that “every frontline worker who is not immunized by August 1, 2021, shall, every two weeks commencing August 1, 2021, present to that frontline worker’s employer a negative rapid test or PCR Test on reporting to work.” If a persons has received their first dose of the vaccine they need not do the PCR Test.
And the S.I. has repercussions where, “A frontline worker who fails to comply with this regulation shall be deemed absent from work and subject to disciplinary proceedings in accordance with any law that regulates the services of that frontline worker.”
The change in the S.I. has been prompted by the slow pace at which Belizeans are choosing to take the vaccine.
