Attorney General Faris Al Rawi has assured that the government examined the laws in depth before proceeding to the decision of requiring that all public servants be vaccinated.
Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley announced on Saturday that public sector employees must be vaccinated to work in person at government offices, and refusal will result in salaries not being paid, with exceptions being made for people exempted based on medical advice.
While the decision is already facing some opposition, Al-Rawi said “It was not rushed.”
He said in January, they will be seeking an amendment to the Public Health Ordinance, in which emergency changes can be made.
Al Rawi explained on Saturday that they intend to amend the parent act to specifically include in the law, sections which will allow for certain dangerous infectious diseases or infectious diseases, because there could be more than just the covid19 disease, to be declared, to be put into a schedule.
He aid “In that subset, because it may not be that every infectious disease requires a vaccine, and as medical advice comes globally and then locally, we then specify the persons to whom that law is going to apply.
“We have done a lot of homework in relation to this. This is not something that is just a snap decision. Under the Public Health Ordinance, the obligation for the minister to act is in circumstances of a dangerous infectious disease,” Al Rawi said.
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