Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda Gaston Browne returned to the country on Monday afternoon (August 9), after cutting his St Lucia vacation short to address what he called a violation of local laws during an anti-coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine protest that swept through the capital, St John’s.

Browne, in a televised address to the nation last night, explained that the week-long vacation was ‘booked’ for convenience as he had already been in the country to conclude duties in his role as CARICOM chairman.

“My fellow Antiguans and Barbudans, I returned home today (Monday), cutting a brief one-week holiday with my family in St Lucia. Since my wife and I were already there to carry out official duties associated with my current chairmanship of CARICOM, we decided to vacation there. I learned of yesterday’s (Sunday) events after they occurred. I would not remain away from home and on vacation when political troublemakers and known criminals are trying to subvert, undermine and destroy our country and the interest of our people by misleading innocent people,” he began.

He later slammed several protestors as counterintuitive and chided political instigators, specifically the opposition United Progressive Party (UPP) for preying on citizens’ vaccine hesitancy while protecting themselves against the pandemic.

“Yesterday’s incident, in which persons deliberately violated laws of the land – applicable to all citizens – and defied instructions of law enforcement who were seeking to protect the welfare of the population, was politically organised,” Browne argued.

“Ironically, politicians, who have inoculated themselves against the ravages of COVID-19, continue to prey on the erroneous belief by some unsuspecting persons that the COVID-19 vaccine is harmful to them, despite all the evidence to the contrary,” he said.

“Lawlessness is what the UPP knows. Disruption and disturbance are their traditional methods of operation. They and their forerunner institutions use these illegal, violent tactics in 1968, 1979 and again in 2003 to destabilise our country. And we saw these reprehensible, ‘dinosauric’ tactics employed [on Sunday], including the involvement of criminal elements, who are well-known to the police,” the Antiguan prime minister added.

Scores of Antiguans gathered at the Vere Bird bust in St John’s on Sunday to protest their displeasure with the seemingly mandatory stance the Gaston Browne administration has taken with regards to the national COVID-19 vaccination programme.

The Royal Police Force of Antigua and Barbuda, responding to the mass gathering, ordered protestors to disperse—a request that residents largely ignored. The police claim that after repeated appeals, officers used a ‘show of force’ and fired tear gas into the crowd.

According to local reports, one man was arrested and many more injured by rubber bullets fired by police in riot gear. Two more women, members of the self-proclaimed ‘Freedom Fighters’ group, which wrote to Police Commissioner Atlee Rodney for permission to gather amid the coronavirus pandemic, had their homes raided and were taken into custody on Tuesday.

Seeking to ease tensions, Prime Minister Browne declared that as Antigua and Barbuda charts a course for economic recovery, COVID-19 vaccines would not be made mandatory.

“The persons who were protesting against vaccines were used needlessly! We have made it abundantly clear that no one, absolutely no one, in our country will be vaccinated if they do not wish to be. We uphold that right and respect it. With regard to the Rastafarian community, we also recognise that their religious belief rejects vaccinations,” he explained.

“There is absolutely no compulsion that anyone should be vaccinated against COVID-19, however, as a government, we have an obligation to protect the wider [population]. It would be a highly irresponsible, if not, a reckless and careless government that does not seek to protect the population from infection by a deadly virus,” Browne remarked further.

Browne clarified, however, that the only requirement made by the government is that frontline healthcare workers and other public servants be protected as the national COVID-19 response continues.

If those persons express their hesitancy, then at their personal cost, a PCR test must be conducted every two weeks, he added.

The announcement is a stark contradiction of Browne’s stance when protestors massed outside the Office of the Prime Minister on July 26, two weeks ago.

Nonetheless, Prime Minister Browne said that there was no truth in UPP claims that the Government was against peaceful demonstrations.

“In making that claim, they are again attempting to mislead and deceive the people of our country and others abroad. My Government does not fear or discourage peaceful and constructive protests within the confines of the law. We welcome peaceful protestations as we see them as opportunities to continue to align our policies in resolving differences and satisfying the requirements of our people,” he said.

Antigua and Barbuda, once one of the few safe havens against the deadly pandemic, saw an exponential spike in COVID-19 cases between late January and mid-March.

The country, confirming 10 new cases in the past 24 hours, has a cumulative caseload of 1,348 infections, 59 of which are listed by the Ministry of Health as ‘active’.

So far, 1,246 patients have made a full recovery in Antigua and Barbuda, while 43 persons have died due to coronavirus-related complications.

Some 38,605 first doses have been administered in Antigua and Barbuda, while 31,298 persons have been fully inoculated, according to health ministry data.

After weeks of acceptance, anti-vaccine sentiment has surged across the Caribbean, with demonstrations taking place in Antigua, Barbados and St Vincent.

The St Vincent demonstration led to the injury of Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves, who was stuck in his temple by a stone thrown by a protestor.