Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves that Tuesday’s judgment handed down by the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court of Appeal, in favour of the Government of St. Vincent and the Grenadines in the “COVID-19 Vaccine Case”, is an opportunity for dialogue and healing.
Speaking on radio on Tuesday, Prime Minister Gonsalves insisted that the vaccine requirement was put in place to protect the lives of all Vincentians at a time of a serious Public Health Emergency.
“I want this to be a process of healing. The government, first of all, wanted to ensure that we save lives, and we appealed the case because we felt certain that the judgment of first instance was wrong, and the government wanted to have with crystal clarity what it would be able to do or not do on another occasion.
And there will be other occasions, and increasingly so, of health pandemics. I look forward to reading the judgment and to study it very carefully, myself as a lawyer, and to be advised further by those who have participated in this case on the government side from the very beginning. This is not an occasion for any gloating on the part of the government that we have won the appeal. You hear my words, you hear my voice. It’s a voice of healing. It’s a voice of reconciliation. It’s a voice of unity.”
