A cruise ship worker who did not agree with the taking of the vaccine was forced to take the “jab” because vaccination has become mandatory for employees in the industry.

However, the worker who asked to remain anonymous has said that after taking the first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine last month she is worried about her future well-being. In her conversation with PSA media, she said: “I was sick for three days. I had a headache, fever, joint and body pains.” She continued: “That was not normal. I was good all the time and got a feeling like I was going to die after I took that thing I did not want to take.” She said immediately after taking the vaccine she was normal and did not have any complaints during the day, however, she said after retiring on the night, around midnight, she began having severe complications and realized all was not well with her.

The worker who had returned to Trinidad after the country’s borders were closed on March 22 last year and had not returned to work since then said if it was not for certain obligations she had to complete in her private life she would have called it quits and never return for the second dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine next month. She said she has worked on cruise ships for the last 20 years of her life and began when she was about 21.

Although the woman disagreed with being called an anti-vaxxer since she has taken vaccines before, she said that she had many concerns surrounding the Covid-19 pandemic and the subsequent vaccines that she said were seemingly being forced on the world’s population. She said if given the choice she would not have taken the vaccine and had tried prolonging the process before she went for the first dose but was convinced by her little sister who went with her because she claimed to have done her research concerning the AstraZeneca vaccine. She also pointed out that her sister was also affected by the first dose but not as seriously as her.
On the issue of the company’s workplace policy, she said that she did not agree with it because it was rushed and workers were never consulted.

At the start of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, the billion-dollar cruise ship industry was badly hurt by the pandemic and especially after the media dubbed cruise ships as, “Floating Petri Vessels,” or places ripe for germs and diseases. Several were prevented from docking at major ports or passengers were prevented from leaving the ships.

Even closer to home and as one of this country’s first mass cases of the virus, 68 cruise ship passengers were stranded off the coast of Guadeloupe after several other passengers on the vessel had tested positive for the coronavirus. Eventually, an elderly man from that cruise became this country’s second Covid-19 fatality. In all, 47 others on that cruise also became confirmed cases.