By LEANDRA ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

lrolle@tribunemedia.net

EDUCATION Minister Jeff Lloyd said any decision to make COVID-19 vaccinations mandatory for students enrolled in private schools will be “entirely up” to the institution itself but warned that such decisions “may be tested in court”.

Mr Lloyd made the statement to reporters when asked if private schools are allowed to require students to be fully vaccinated against the virus as part of their enrolment policy for the upcoming fall semester.

This comes as hundreds of colleges in the United States and elsewhere are mandating students to be vaccinated for the upcoming term.

Several Bahamian businesses have also implemented similar policies for their staff in recent weeks.

Yesterday, Mr Lloyd reiterated the government’s stance on vaccinations, saying no one in the country will be forced to take the vaccine if they do not want to do so.

This, he added, also applies to public school students and staff.

However, for those private institutions considering such policies, Mr Lloyd said they must be guided by health officials and the law.

“They will have to be like everyone else, guided by the health authorities and what is the law. If there is an arrangement between them and their client base, meaning parents and students, that that kind of imposition can be made then that is a determination between them and that client base,” he said.

“As far as we are concerned, the government has reiterated that there is nothing mandatory about vaccinations in the Commonwealth of The Bahamas. What private circumstances decide to do, it’s entirely up to them and I’m sure as you would’ve heard, some of those decisions may be tested in court.”

He added: “We have said at the Ministry of Education, the government, we are guided by the scientists; those officials and scientists at the Ministry of Health. Whatever they permit, whatever they direct, everything we do, all the decisions we’ve made are guided undergirded by what is the best scientific interest in the Commonwealth of The Bahamas.”

Schools across the country closed in March 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic but were later reopened in a phased approach after the summer break last October.

In May, officials announced that public schools would return to virtual learning once again after cases started to climb in the country.

Mr Lloyd told reporters last month that education officials remained optimistic schools will resume normal operations come September.

Asked yesterday if school repairs will be ready for the new academic year, he replied: “Every year, they are ready and whenever they are not ready, it’s because of circumstances beyond our control or it’s because the nature of the work necessitates a much longer period of time. “Do please remember that because of the COVID, we have had to extend the repairs from last year into this year and some of that work is just now being completed so we do not expect that there will be so much work as there would’ve been in previous years so we’re looking forward to an easy and trouble free-start to the school year.”