Unvaccinated students from the Caribbean island Antigua, belonging to the country Antigua and Barbuda, will continue their learning remotely.
The Government of the Caribbean island of Antigua prohibited students not vaccinated against COVID-19 from attending face-to-face classes, upon meeting the November 10 deadline for those over 12 years of age to be immunized.
Information Minister Melford Nicholas told reporters on Saturday that all students eligible to receive an anticovid vaccine must have been inoculated to gain access to the school plant.
“The Government has maintained its position that all eligible students should be vaccinated not only based on the public health notice, but that it is now a matter of law, since the Senate approved the amendment to the Education Law,” he explained.
Unvaccinated students will continue their learning remotely, according to the minister, who stressed that this provides a balance between offering education to all students and public health.
“The Minister of Education was very forceful, that they wanted to be fair to provide education to all, as a matter of law, and we accept it, but we also indicated that there would be measures in accordance with public health,” he added.
The Government of Antigua insists that it is the legal responsibility of parents to adhere to regulations regarding both education and public health.
“There is an obligation for parents to do what is lawful and to be able to ensure the health of their children and the health of the environment in which they operate,” Nicholas stressed.
Groups of parents have expressed concern about what would happen to unvaccinated students, which is why the Government has chosen to offer the option of distance education.
Antigua is one of the two main islands that make up the Caribbean nation of Antigua and Barbuda, which has a population of about 100,000.
In Antigua and Barbuda, 4,102 infections and 105 deaths have been registered since the beginning of the pandemic, and more than 107,000 doses of some anticovid vaccine have been administered, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). (I)
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