Opposition Leader Philip J. Pierre has vowed to take the COVID-19 vaccine but it does not appear that he will be doing so on live television. Last week the government launched the first phase of Saint Lucia’s vaccine rollout, with a number of government officials and private individuals receiving the jab during a live broadcast aired on the National Television Network.
Ahead of Tuesday’s House of Assembly sitting, Pierre spoke briefly on his reason for declining the Ministry of Health’s invitation to be among the recipients. The Castries East MP indicated that he had written to Chief Medical Officer Dr. Sharon Belmar-George informing her that he would not take the vaccine at this time, since he felt that there were more deserving people. He said that the government failed to launch a viable search for vaccines and argued that Barbados and Dominica were ahead of Saint Lucia.
Said Pierre: “I wrote the CMO privately. I congratulated her for what she was doing as far as the vaccines were concerned. The government’s surrogates on social media played politics with it. It was their idea to have a one-upmanship on me. The government is not serious, the government is political. The government is playing politics with covid; they’re playing politics generally while the people of Saint Lucia are suffering.”
“I…no, no, no,” Pierre replied, when asked whether he would take the vaccine on live televison. “You see, I did my medical examination in January, I didn’t do it live. I did it privately.”
He went on: “I have said publicly that the vaccine is necessary and I’ve encouraged even before the government [sic]. Listen to my 7-point plan…before the government I made the point of vaccination. So I have no problem with vaccination but I won’t play politics with it. I think deserving people need to have it first and these are the frontline workers. Why would a reporter take it first? You guys are doing a wonderful job but the nurses, the health aids, the porters in the hospital, the people who work there…they are the ones who are important. I will take it when they have taken theirs.”
