Staff of the Maritime Administration (MARAD) that were granted time off to be inoculated against the COVID-19 virus are back at work, Communications Officer Akousa McPherson said yesterday.
McPherson told Stabroek News that the majority of staff members, who were sent to be vaccinated, returned to work after receiving their first jabs.
She explained that the agency continues to follow the guidelines as outlined in government’s emergency measures. She noted, however, that a few members of staff will have to produce a negative PCR test as they are still to be inoculated.
Employees of MARAD had been off the job for at least three days as the agency had required that they produce proof of vaccination before entering their work place.
Director General Stephen Thomas last week told Stabroek News that the agency was giving staff the time off to be vaccinated. He said this in response to reports that the staff were being sent home if they were not vaccinated.
The maritime agency on August 2 had met with unvaccinated staff and informed them of the decision taken and requested that they be vaccinated.
The new requirement caught the employees off guard after it was announced during the meeting. They were initially told that the vaccines were not mandatory, but during the meeting they were informed of the new policy for all staff to be vaccinated.
Employers in the private and public sectors have implemented new policies mandating that staff who have not received a COVID-19 vaccine provide evidence of a negative PCR test result. Some places of work require evidence of a negative PCR test weekly while others require it fortnightly. The unvaccinated employees are required to cover the cost of every test they are subjected to.
Operators of passenger boats have also been informed that they risk being suspended or having their licences revoked if they operate while unvaccinated against the virus.
The requirements for speedboat captains, bowmen, and monitors, were announced in the new provisions of the updated COVID-19 Emergency Measures gazetted by the Ministry of Health. The requirement took effect from August 1.
