Health Minister Dr Christopher Tufton has broken his silence on a perceived discriminatory policy expected to be adopted by the Jamaican Government soon, whereby a new vaccinated only events calendar is to be introduced.

Speaking at the launch of the Sagicor Sigma Run on Wednesday (February 9), the health minister asked citizens not to view the Government’s decision to reward fully vaccinated Jamaicans as unequal treatment.

“We approach the management of COVID in a way that treats all Jamaicans equally and I want that to be very clear… . However, it is very important for us to recognise that in managing this pandemic, there are degrees of risks that have to be assessed and an appropriate approach applied to those degrees of risks,” stated Tufton.

He added: “In other words, while we are all equal, some are more vulnerable than others. Some situations are more vulnerable than others and so in the management of the pandemic or the risks we have to pivot even while we build to get back to normality…”.

Tufton’s comments on the equality of all Jamaicans come on the heels of a narrative that has dominated public discourse since February 6, when Adam Stewart, executive chairman of Sandals Resorts International, tweeted that the Government’s impending vaccinated-only events calendar is discriminatory in nature.

Stewart on Sunday shared with his followers: “I just watched a video where the Minister Of Health publicly stated he plans to “discriminate” against the overwhelming majority of Jamaicans citizens who have made a personal choice. What happened to “Out Of Many One People”?”

The tweet, which has since gone viral, sparked public debate around whether the Government’s actions were, in fact, discriminatory in nature, fuelling a narrative that, despite the country’s motto reading ‘Out Of Many One People’, all Jamaicans are not equal.

Relaying that the Government has in the past seen pushback on measures introduced, as is the case today, Tufton noted: “At this point in the pandemic and the response to the pandemic we have to recognise those who have taken time to get vaccinated.

“They pose like anybody else an element of risk in terms of picking up the virus which is why we say other protocols apply… but the reality is those who are unvaccinated pose a greater risk, not just to themselves if they were to pick the virus up, but to the health response because they are by far most likely to end up in hospital…”.

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