‘No jab, no job’, Fiji’s civil servants told

On Aug 16, 2021

FIJI: A “no jab, no job” COVID-19 policy went into effect in Fiji on Sunday, with unvaccinated public servants forced to go on leave as the Pacific nation joined a number of countries in imposing similar mandates.A stubborn outbreak of the highly infectious Delta variant that started in April ended a yearlong spell of no community transmission of COVID-19, and has overwhelmed Fiji’s healthcare system with more than 40,000 cases.

The Government has argued that mandatory vaccinations are necessary to raise immunisation rates and end the outbreak.

After a period of forced leave starting Sunday, Fiji’s public servants who remain unvaccinated by November will be dismissed.In addition, employees at private firms could face fines and companies could be forced to stop operations over vaccine refusals.

Legal expert and former head of the Fiji Human Rights Commission Imrana Jalal said other countries had mandated compulsory vaccinations in various critical sectors, but not on the sweeping scale imposed in Fiji.

The Government has dismissed the lockdown option because of its high economic cost and rising poverty in the nation of 930,000.With more than 24,000 still-active cases and 358 deaths, its resources are stretched as military-style field hospitals handle the overflow of patients — especially after the virus swept through densely populated squatter settlements. – INDIA TODAY