Legislating Public Health: A Perspective on Mandatory Vaccinations in the Caribbean

COVID-19 affected every aspect of global existence. The development of vaccines was seen as the panacea to the global disruption caused by the sudden pandemic. The hope which the vaccines represented was quickly diminished by increasing levels of vaccine hesitancy. While there was a regional approach within the Caribbean to addressing public health messaging to reduce vaccine hesitancy, there was still limited acceptance of the COVID-19 vaccine. Adding to the already complex factual matrix was the policy decision to impose mandatory vaccinations by regional governments on certain categories of workers. This was prompted by fears of an inactive economy and the need for essential government services to continue. Despite this rationale, the policy was faced with violent opposition by some sectors in society, particularly the trade union movement. The irony in the present discussion is that mandatory vaccinations are not new in the wider international community and are even firmly embedded in the Caribbean region as part of policies that focus on public health, education, and immigration. This paper seeks to interrogate the rationale for the mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy from a legal perspective, focusing on the approach adopted by Caribbean states on vaccinations generally. To the extent that the regional policies negatively impact persons in society, there will also be an examination of possible alternatives to the proposed vaccination policy by regional governments in the event of a future threat of the magnitude of COVID-19.