Even though the Ministry of Health has said that taking the COVID-19 vaccine is not compulsory, at least one private company has made vaccination a requirement for new employees while some government agencies have more aggressive efforts to convince staff to get vaccinated.
“Management of the Giftland Group is working towards creating a COVID-19 free work environment and the best mechanism to achieve this is for all employees to be vaccinated,” a memo from the human resources department of Giftland to company staff, which was seen by Stabroek News, says.
According to the memo, dated May 3, all employees are to take the COVID-19 vaccine and submit copies of their vaccination cards to the department to be added to the employee files. “We are urging all employees to take advantage of the free vaccination exercise at the mall tomorrow (May 4th, 2021) to avoid the inconvenience of having to take it later should it become mandatory, as it is now a requirement for new recruits,” the memo further states, while noting that the company’s executives and their family have been vaccinated.