Prime Minister Gaston Browne announces that public sector workers who stayed home during COVID-19 vaccine mandate to be reimbursed
Prime Minister Gaston Browne has moved to settle one of the most contentious issues lingering from the COVID-19 pandemic; payments owed to public servants who stayed home during the government’s vaccine mandate.
Browne also revealed that public-sector workers who chose not to comply with the mandatory vaccination policy will now have the opportunity to claim wages lost during that period.
Those individuals must submit their information to the Permanent Secretary in their respective ministries for payment voucher processing.
In mid-2021, at the height of the global pandemic and amid rising local infections, the Government of Antigua and Barbuda implemented a strict policy requiring public servants—and, in some cases, private-sector employees in frontline or high-risk settings—to be vaccinated against COVID-19.
The mandate was part of a broader national strategy, informed by regional and international health guidelines, aimed at preventing deaths, reducing hospital overcrowding, encouraging widespread vaccination, and safeguarding essential services.
Under the policy:
• Public employees who refused vaccination were instructed to remain home.
• Those who stayed home were not paid during the period of non-compliance.
The Prime Minister’s latest directive instructs affected workers to submit their claims so that compensation can be issued. No payment timeline has yet been disclosed.
Well God don’t ever sleep
All this is not going to stop what went wrong with the force mandates that sickened and murdered lots of people. The damage has already been done and an apology is need. This is recorded in the spiritual realms and will be judged there. No money can restore what has been done. It’s gonna be God and time for what happened to those affected from the jibby jab.
Long overdue. Whether people agreed with the mandate or not, this mess should have been cleaned up ages ago.
Some will see this as the government admitting the mandate was too harsh. Others will say it’s just the right thing to do now. Either way, pay the people.
Election MUST be around the corner. This idiot is really rolling out the trinkets to bribe folks into reelecting him.
I am one of the few who told Gaston Brown and his imps where to stick their Clotshot needle.
Is money going to bring back those who died after taking the Clotshot? What do you tell those young people who suddenly developed turbo cancers? And for you vaxxers who are in cognitive dissonance, our death rate has increased, as it has worldwide among countries who mass jabbed its citizens. When in the history of Antigua and Barbuda have we been running out of burial room?
Now, why the hell do these civil servants have to submit information to their respective ministries? The ministries are supposed to have the information. That’s why I believe nothing this clown says. He’s just making stuff up.
Great news! How do these public servants make the claims? Is it a letter that is to be submitted? What specific period are they claiming for?
I am very happy that they are getting their just pay for their right to choose
After all these years, now money suddenly appears? I’m glad workers are being compensated, but the timing feels a little too perfect.
Many families struggled when salaries were cut off. A directive to “submit claims” is not enough people want timelines, transparency, and accountability.
A necessary step toward healing and reconciliation after a difficult period
The Prime Minister’s directive brings long-awaited movement on a painful chapter of the pandemic, but key questions remain about how soon workers will actually be compensated
The Prime Minister’s directive brings long-awaited movement on a painful chapter of the pandemic, but key questions remain about how soon workers will actually be compensated