BELIZE CITY, Mon. Aug. 9, 2021– Today, the Government of Belize (GoB), by way of the Attorney General’s office, released a statement in which it classifies a recent anti-vaxxer document as illegal and refers to its contents as misinformation.
The document, which by all indications was first posted on the Facebook page, “Belize Forever 8867,” is entitled, “Belizean Cease and Desist Order to prevent forced injection, any medical procedure or test” and is purported to be some sort of legal form for employees, particularly frontline workers, who refuse to get vaccinated, to serve on employers.
The document appears to be a cease and desist letter drafted by some local attorney. Unlike a cease and desist order, however, it appears that this letter is not legally binding, since GoB’s release states that, “there is no court order issued by any court to back up such document.”
The Office of the Attorney General’s release states, “The sharing of the document is misinforming the Belizean public. It is unlawful for persons to engage in misinformation or disinformation of any kind.” This portion of the GoB release is a reference to certain assertions in the document that are characteristic of the types of arguments and claims being spread by the anti-vaxx community worldwide.
The release from the Attorney General’s office states, “As COVID-19 continues to threaten the country’s social and economic wellbeing, the Government of Belize condemns the spreading of misinformation without any medical or legal substantiation.”
There is an ongoing worldwide debate surrounding the legality of mandatory vaccinations among citizens. In Belize, SI 74 requires frontline workers who remain unvaccinated after July 31 to be tested for Covid-19 by way of a PCR or rapid test every two weeks.
Some members of the public consider this law to be a backdoor to mandatory vaccinations, although the legislation does not state this.
Persons in the tourism industry who wish to conduct tours at archeological sites, however, are subject to stricter requirements, and must present a vaccination card before entering designated locations.