President of the Public Service Union (PSU) Elroy Boucher has called on the Public Service Commission (PSC) to retire Chief Medical Officer (CMO), Dr. Simone Keizer-Beache, over the COVID-19 vaccine mandate.
He said at a press conference in Kingstown on Monday that the government’s chief medical advisor could also opt to resign from her position.
Hundreds of public sector workers lost their jobs when the then-Unity Labour Party administration ordered that they take a COVID-19 jab or lose their jobs.
Some of those workers are only now returning to work under the policy of the New Democratic Party (NDP) government that came to power on Nov. 27, saying that workers need only turn up to their old workplace rather than having to reapply for their jobs.
“Through that vaccine mandate, countless families were hurt. People were hurt both financially and psychologically, and people lost their assets, and they suffered immensely,” Boucher said at a PSU press conference in Kingstown on Monday.
“One of the architects of this vaccine mandate is the CMO,” Boucher said, adding that the union has no confidence in Keizer-Beache.
“Firstly, there’s no confidence in the CMO at this particular point. As a union, we do not have any confidence in her and the public also, in my view, we don’t have any confidence in her. She is partially responsible for the suffering of the people, the hundreds of public servants,” Boucher said.
He noted that in addition to public servants, people who were doing menial, low-paying jobs, such as Town Board workers and school janitors, lost their jobs under the COVID-19 vaccine mandate.
“There was a total disregard for people’s rights, their right to bodily integrity, etc. And they just suffered,” Boucher said.
“She couldn’t care whether they survive or not. And every time the former prime minister [Ralph Gonsalves] spoke, he said he was acting on the advice of the CMO, how could he not go along with what she’s saying.
“So, she is a part of the problem, and so we are asking for her to be retired in the interest of the public,” Boucher said, noting that the Public Service Regulations make such a provision.
“… or for her to retire herself, because she is a problem. And if you continue in that position, that is what you represent — every time we — … all of those hundreds of persons, when they look at you, that is what we see, the pain and the harm that you have brought to bear on Vincentians and their families with total disregard for their rights and whether they survive or they don’t.”
Boucher welcomed the commitment of the New Democratic Party (NDP) administration that came to office on Nov. 27, to its promise to reinstate workers who lost their jobs in 2021 for failing to take a COVID-19 jab, as the government had ordered.
The PSU, along with the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Teachers’ Union and the Police Welfare Association, sponsored a lawsuit in which the High Court ruled in March 2023 that the government’s actions were illegal and unconstitutional.
However, in a 2-1 majority decision in February 2025, the Court of Appeal overturned the lower court’s decision but has since granted permission for the matter to be determined by the London-based Privy Council, SVG’s highest court.
Boucher noted that some affected workers have returned to their jobs since the new administration came to office.
He, however, said that the reinstatement of all workers will take some time as the PSC is the only body with the authority to appoint public servants.
“But we want to thank the new government for that commitment, and we are assured and reassured that all of the workers who have been dismissed, who have not returned to work, will return to work under different conditions,” Boucher said.
The Unity Labour Party government, which brought the mandate into effect, had repeatedly urged affected workers to return to work even as the case moved through the nation’s courts.
Some workers returned to work, but others refused, saying they would not reapply because they had not abandoned their jobs as the government had stated and as the Court of Appeal ruling has held.
“… one of the things that some workers have said why they stayed away is that they had to reapply,” Boucher said, of the ULP administration’s stipulation.
“And they are convinced, in their spirit, that the decision that they took, they did not abandon their job,” he said, noting the case is headed for the Privy Council.
“Now there is no reapplying, and the commitment is that they will go back to the very same position that they left with all of their benefits intact.”
Boucher said that the vaccine mandate was an issue in the election, in which the ULP lost 14 seats to one.
“…they got rid of … almost all of the architects of that draconian measure,” he said.
The vaccine mandate was one of the worst things to happen to SVG in a long time. Now that its architect, the heartless Ralph Gonsalves, has been voted out, all his appointees—including the CMO—must resign.
The initial stance she too waa understandable,but, she has ample time to change that stance,as more information about the vaccine’s effect on some people came forth. She should have observed that the death rate from covid in the tropics was much lower than in cooler regions,and should have been able to make a more informed decision ,regarding mandatory vaccine for civil servants. The only way a vaccine mandate can be effective is if the entire population is vaccinated and by that logic,vac inating a section of the population ,was senseless. The vaccine mandate in SVG had more to do with economics than the science,which was not definitive.
Boucher should stop politicizing medical issues about which he is ignorant.
Dr. Keizer-Beache was only doing her job based on the available medical knowledge at the time, resulting in saving countless lives by simply following procedures recommended and replicated across the world, procedures the Privy Council will accept by dismissing this mischievous appeal.
Also figure out if any financial benefits were offered/received for being blind.
Dr Keizer- Beache is a consummate professional and should be lauded for her accomplishments in the field of medicine.
Compare her position to the positions of others who advocate against vaccination for measles, small-pox, hepatitis in children ? Thank you Dr Keizer-Beache for your exemplary service and career. God Bless.
She was doing her job, Vincentian was not the only people in the world during the pandemic that had to follow the protocol for fighting Covid. I don’t know why they think they are special and should not follow the rules. Everyone are free to make a choice. You take the vaccine or you don’t. But remember action has consequences. I pray to God that covid will be the last pandemic we will see for years to come. The vaccine did save life. Covid is still killing people around the world, mainly people who refused to get vaccinated. You people need too grow up.
This was a world 🌎 pandemic during the covid season please don’t blame former PM Gonsalves am living in North America lots of people lost their job. You all just playing politics with the people emotion when I think of it because of my job I had toke 3 vaccine that I was not happy about what it is. What I think was that the farmer admitted transaction should of call the people back to work after covid season was over.
I don’t belive she took that experimental poison jab. Asking why so many young people are getting ill and die since 2021,”. Why?
Such political hacks who represent unions care less about competency. They seem to care more about political loyalty. They may be inclined to take an NDP supporter off the street and put him/her in Dr Keizer’s position.
Geof Edward’s An̈imal Doctor has no right to speak on anything human. Let him speak to or about animals for which he is qualified not the human race. Stay in your lane Geof Edward’s.
“ where Ignorance is Bliss, ‘Tis Folly to be Wise” is a long held philosophy. Even expressed in Calypso.
The CDC and the WHO guidelines regarding vaccines may be
helpful to non-believers and believers alike.
Happy and Healthy Holidays to all.