Nearly 200 people gathered outside Parliament Monday to demonstrate against a pair of bills debated by parliamentarians Monday that would require COVID-19 vaccinations for non-Caymanians.
It marked the second protest in as many days over proposed amendments to the Customs and Border Control Amendment Bill and the Immigration Transition Amendment Bill, which would mandate the COVID-19 vaccine for many residents and visitors to the Cayman Islands.
Opposition leader Roy McTaggart, hours after issuing a letter to Premier Wayne Panton urgently calling for the bills to be withdrawn, told those gathered that he supported their efforts.
“I thank them for standing up for freedom of choice. I thank them for standing up for the Constitution and the Bill of Rights,” McTaggart told the Cayman Compass after the morning Parliament session had recessed for lunch.
Signs reading, “My body, my choice”, “standing up for choice” and “Don’t take away our freedom” could be seen at the demonstration, with those gathered chanting “freedom of choice”.
“These are protests, and concerns by many vaccinated, and unvaccinated Caymanians, standing side-by-side in support of choice.”
“I told them that the Opposition would not be supporting the bill,” he said, a statement that was met with cheers from the crowd.
“I want merely to ensure that our vaccination position is clear and not misinterpreted,” McTaggart said during his speech in Parliament. “Our position has always been one of choice, educating and persuading, rather than mandating. These are protests, and concerns by many vaccinated, and unvaccinated Caymanians, standing side-by-side in support of choice.”
None of the PACT government members addressed the crowd publicly.
Mario Rankin, who organised Monday’s protest, declined to speak with the Cayman Compass about the demonstration, only saying that the “bill won’t be passed”.
Debate on the bills continued into Monday evening.
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Everyone has the right to decline medical treatment for themselves. You can choose to die from heart problems or diabetes if you wish.
However your decision affects your health alone. You cannot give someone else a heart attack or diabetes by breathing on them.
There is overwhelming evidence that this vaccine is safe and effective:
https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2113017?query=WB&cid=NEJM Weekend Briefing, October 2, 2021 DM341691_NEJM_Non_Subscriber&bid=639918310
Everyone, work permit holders and Caymanians alike, should protect the health of others, even if they are happy to risk a potentially deadly disease themselves.
It was very sad over the weekend to people demonstrating against a change in the law that would require permit holders and applicants to be vaccinated. Especially troubling was the one young man holding a sign stating “Fake Pandemic – Real Genocide.” The problems with such a statement are legion and exemplify the type of thinking that poses a risk to all rational and concerned citizens who view this as a public health issue and not a political one. We do not need such people in these islands.
Does this placard carrying fool consider 700,000 dead in the USA alone a fake Pandemic?
What genocide is he talking about? My wife and I , our friends and all my children were vaccinated as soon as possible.
Including my pregnant daughter-in-law. ALL are healthy and well.