Government wins Vaccine Mandate Appeal

by Jada Chambers

The Government has won an appeal at the Eastern Caribbean Court of Appeal in what has become known in St Vincent and the Grenadines as the Covid-19 vaccine case.
By a majority 2:1 decision the Appeal Court judges on Wednesday, February 12, 2025, upheld the Government’s vaccine mandate appeal. In a statement yesterday, February 13, 2025, Jomo Thomas, who is one of the lawyers for the Respondents, indicated that they would be studying the ruling and would determine how to proceed after conferring with their clients.
The legal team has said though, that they find the ruling disappointing and are now advising their client to appeal to the Privy Council, this country’s highest Appeal Court.
In 2021, frontline public officers including police officers, teachers, and healthcare workers were required by the Public Health (Public Bodies Special Measures) Rules, 2021 (Special Measures) to be vaccinated or be deemed absent without leave, and ultimately dismissed from their positions.
However, some public sector employees refused to comply with the vaccine mandate, and as a result, were deemed to have abandoned their positions after being absent for 10 consecutive days, in accordance with Regulation 31 of the Public Service Commission Regulations and Section 73A of the Police Act. The mandate prohibited unvaccinated teachers from entering the workplace and deemed that they had abandoned their jobs.
The dismissed workers took the government to court. They argued that Rule 8(1) and (2) of the Public Health (Public Bodies Special Measures) Rules 2021 (SR&O No 28) was unlawful, unconstitutional, and void.

Then High Court judge, Justice Esco Henry ruled in their favour on March 13, 2023 stating in her judgement that the mandate was “unlawful, unconstitutional, ultra vires, disproportionate and tainted by procedural impropriety”.