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Griffith hopes to get more police vaccinated - Trinidad and Tobago Newsday

Efforts will be made to increase the number of police officers being vaccinated against covid19, says acting Police Commissioner Gary Griffith.

Speaking at a police media briefing on Monday, Griffith said he intended to write to officers who have not received the vaccine as yet to do so and remind them of the dangers they were exposed to while on the job.

He said up to Monday afternoon over 45 per cent of active police officers have been vaccinated and he intended to raise this figure by continuing a vaccination drive and writing personally to officers who have not been vaccinated.

"We have had a total of 4,171 police officers who were quarantined at one point in time or another," he said, which showed the importance of the police being vaccinated.

"I intend to write personally to each and every police officer who has not yet been vaccinated (to say) that it's almost 100 per cent of people who have died or hospitalised from covid19 are those who have not been vaccinated. That is a fact.

"Police officers also need to understand that when you go out there, because you are on the frontline, you are at the highest risk, but also when you go back to your homes, you are also putting your families at risk."

Asked if he would push for mandatory vaccination, Griffith said he did not have the authority to do so, but would find ways to remove unvaccinated officers from the frontline.

"It may affect their salary, their overtime or getting a special allowance. But I can't mandate that.

"I am hoping good sense prevails. The nonsense that is being pushed about with (vaccines) is not right.

"If you don't care about yourself, care about your family."

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