Prime Minister of Dominica, Hon.Roosevelt Skerrit took to the airwaves on Saturday in an impassioned plea for Dominicans to participate vigorously in the vaccination drive against serious illness brought on by the Covid-19 virus. He also announced that Dominica is open for business. The Prime Minister’s address comes amidst calls from various sectors for stimulus packages because of the curfew and lock down measures imposed on the country over the past few weeks. He explained from the onset that he is not a scientist and that his is the ‘overarching role of keeping the Commonwealth of Dominica afloat and progressing in these very difficult times’.
He said, “This government would be justified this evening if it were to impose the harshest measures conceivable to curb the current speed of daily cases in Dominica. We could lock down this country and no reasonably thinking individual would fault us for doing so”. However, although he had recommendations to do just that he decided to refrain from further lock down and instead open back the country. While he has his suspicions about a variant, he said that he doesn’t believe that any variant is to be blamed for the spike but rather the fact that despite having had vaccines early our rate of vaccination is not what it should be as well as persons became complacent and dropped their guard. Hence the reason why he is not in support of draconian measures. He will wait a little longer to decide whether to implement the draconian measures since he believes that Dominicans have learned from the past weeks.
Throughout his speech, Skerrit brought up the issue of vaccinations over and over. He referenced the many frontline workers who have not contracted the virus because they take the precautions and practice the protocols. The prime minister argued for vaccination citing that there are fewer deaths among persons who contract the disease compared to this time last year. He said that it is his wish common sense be employed by all Dominicans as the country fight its way out of the clutches of this disease and back to some degree of normalcy. He added that the government will find the resources to make vaccines available in every community.
Skerrit said, “Let me be clear vaccinations do not prevent you from contracting the virus but it contains and minimizes the likelihood of your sickness, your death and very importantly transmission to others. So I want Dominicans tonight to understand, that I am not going to parliament to pass any law to make it mandatory for anybody in this country to take the vaccine, I am not going to instruct the police to stop anybody to ask whether they have taken the vaccine but I am asking each Dominican to apply simple common sense to what they are doing’. if you refuse to practice healthy habits…contract and pass it on.
He appealed to Dominicans to do all in their power to stop the spike and to decrease the positivity levels in other to have Dominica removed from a ‘Do Not Visit List’ of some countries. he said that if Dominicans fail to do so, they are not as wise as he thought them to be and they do not understand how their bread is buttered. He said that we do not have gold, oil nor are we a large exporter of goods and services therefore we need to keep our ports open to trade. he added that if we do not unite to fight Covid, it will defeat us. he also said that while he knows that Dominicans are not combative, they are also not a people to ‘veer too far north of common sense although many persons believe any and everything.
He added, “We will not lock the innocent in their homes because of the selfishness of the guilty, we will not cause those who need to earn a living to go without bread or money to pay rent simply because a few misguided among us refuse to see the light”.
He encourage working from home and said that ‘businesses which were not allowed to open for the past few weeks will be allowed to open with very few exceptions. We shall not curtail travel, but we shall appeal to travelers to be responsible, do not expose yourself and do not be exposed unnecessarily to catching this virus’. According to him, the government is doing what it can and must do to manage the spread, including supplying vaccines, providing adequate accommodations for a reasonably number of persons who will contract the disease but we do not have the capacity for a major wave of this virus. No island in the region or the world has, he added.
The Honourable Prime Minister concluded his speech by saying that he expects to see an uptake in the number of vaccines administered, a greater use of masks, and greater cooperation with the authorities.
