Public health was top priority in Vaccine Mandate- SVG Government Senior Counsel
Lead counsel for the Government in the Vaccine mandate case, Anthony Astaphan said persons must understand that the government placed public health over private rights.
“The decision was made that the public interest and the public health of the country trumps any private rights that the individuals were seeking to claim…” Astaphan said on WEFM’s Issue at Hand programme on Sunday, February 16, 2025. This comment came days after the Eastern Caribbean Court of Appeal by a 2-1 majority, ruled in favour of the government of St Vincent and the Grenadines in its vaccine mandate case over which public workers in the state had taken the government to court.
In 2021 during the COVID-19 epidemic, 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.
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”. The government appealed and on Wednesday, February 12, 2025, the Eastern Caribbean Court of Appeal upheld the Government’s vaccine mandate appeal.
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