An employment legal expert in Fiji says compulsory vaccination for parts of the workforce is not a new idea to governments.
Jon Apted. Photo: Supplied
Fiji announced Covid-19 mandatory vaccination in July where public servants were told they would need to be fully vaccinated.
Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama directed this section of the workforce to vaccinate against the virus by November 1 or face losing their jobs.
He said people who received the state benefits would also need to get the jabs.
Workers rights' advocates and legal experts in Fiji had labelled the government's Covid-19 response as being "more of a fire brigade approach" and that it was not in control of the fight against the deadly virus.
Suva lawyer Jon Apted said the issue during the Covid-19 pandemic was how far and in what circumstances the requirement for a person to be vaccinated as a condition of some benefit could be imposed by a State, an employer, school or public person like a retailer or shop.
Apted highlighted this during an online annual lecture series organised by the Citizen's Constitutional Forum (CCF).
He said compulsory vaccination against smallpox began in 1853 in England, and the US Supreme Court upheld compulsory smallpox vaccination in 1905.
But following World War II and the Nuremberg experiments, a new right was introduced and that right was now reflected in Fiji's Constitution.
"The freedom from medical experimentation, scientific treatment and medical treatment without your consent, so this is the novel area."
Apted said the coronavirus was the 'first real international pandemic' since the right had come to be recognised.
He said many countries had accepted they could impose it, not as a requirement for compulsory vaccination "but as a mandatory condition for certain things".
Fiji is expected to reopen its borders to fully vaccinated international travellers in November.
Photo: AFP
Apted said no country had yet said that its people must be vaccinated against Covid-19 or face penalties and fines.
"So far, all States have said that if you're not vaccinated against Covid, you may not do this kind of work, like you can't work in a nursing home, you can't work in a hospital, you can't work in a border facility in some countries."
Apted said in some countries, unvaccinated persons could not go to restaurants, night-clubs or places where they were in close proximity to other people and where they risked infecting them.
The lawyer said in those cases, limitations would arise and they could justify them based on a person's right coming into conflict with the rights of others and balancing the two rights.
He said what people needed to realise was that no right was absolute.
Two thirds of Fijians fully vaccinated: Govt
According to Fiji's Health Ministry, 66.8 percent of the target population are fully vaccinated against Covid-19.
There were 175 new cases of the delta variant reported in the community yesterday.
Two other cases were found in border quarantine, taking the total number of cases in isolation to 12,979.
Health Secretary Dr James Fong also confirmed four deaths last night.
This takes the death toll to 583, with 581 victims recorded since the latest outbreak began in April this year.
A health worker prepares a dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine for a resident at a drive-through vaccination centre in Suva. Photo: AFP / Leon Lord
There are 110 severe Covid-19 patients in hospital, seven in critical condition.
Dr Fong said the two border cases were a 20-year-old man from Nadi and a 22-year-old man from Lautoka.
"They both arrived in Fiji on 19 September 2021 at the Lautoka Seaport in a vessel that visited several other ports.
"Although both individuals reported to have not disembarked the vessel at any of these ports due to Covid-19 restrictions, however, crew change over at one ports is the possible source of infection transmission."
Dr Fong said Fiji's Border Health Protection Unit is investigating this.
He said the pair had been isolated and were symptomatic for Covid-19 but were currently stable.
"As per protocol, the disinfection process of rooms and linen have been completed by the onsite health quarantine officer and front-line workers who were in contact with the two individuals.
"They have also been included on the routine weekly swabbing schedule and the front-liner surveillance schedule."
Dr Fong said there were six other deaths of Covid patients but they had been classified as non-Covid deaths by their doctors.
He said these deaths were caused by a serious pre-existing medical condition and not Covid-19.