Duke: “I am no anti-vaxxer. I believe in vaccines! What I am against is the mandatory use of vaccines!”

“When they rush a vaccine, this is what you call an emergency use vaccine or an emergency use authorization (EUA), the World Health Organization gave authorization for the EUA to be used. They are not licensed. It is not final. They are still observing these vaccines and that’s my trouble. No emergency use authorized vaccines can be forced upon anyone!“ said Duke.

President of the Public Services Association (PSA), Watson Duke, said that there was no way that a rushed vaccine could be made mandatory. He asserted that it was a person’s right to refuse any EUA vaccine. Duke threatened any employer forcing employees to vaccinate, saying, “They were making a fatal mistake.”

According to Covid-19 statistics presented by the PSA’s President in his Facebook live yesterday, Trinidad and Tobago’s positive Covid-19 cases quadrupled upon the arrival and dissemination of Covid-19 vaccines.

He said that between March 2020 and March 2021, the amount of Covid-19 cases were eight thousand (8,000). He then made reference to April 2021 and July 2021, where there were twenty-nine thousand (29,000) additional cases of Covid-19. He said this followed the arrival of roughly 33,000 Oxford, AstraZeneca vaccines on March 31, 2021.

Duke made the made the comparison stating that over a year there were eight thousand cases and in four months, upon the arrival of the vaccines, there twenty nine additional Covid-19 cases.

“Folks, the figures are there. People are saying that these emergency vaccines are safe, and that they are effective. If they are safe and effective, why isn’t the World Health Organization pronouncing and saying to us that they have gone beyond the trial stage and they are now ready for licensing?” said Duke.