HAGÅTÑA (The Guam Daily Post) — Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero on Monday night amended her vaccination mandate that has divided the island.
The announcement about the tweaked mandate was followed by the confirmation of Guam’s 145th Covid-19-related death at Guam Memorial Hospital. The fatality was an 88-year-old man who had underlying health conditions and was unvaccinated, the Joint Information Center reported.
The amended executive order will include the following changes:
• For patrons of covered establishments, rather than being required full vaccination, they must show proof of at least their first shot or provide a self-attestation that the individual has received at least one shot of a recommended series of the vaccine.
• For employees of covered establishments — rather than being required full vaccination or face termination, employees must either become fully vaccinated or submit to a Covid-19 test on a weekly basis. These tests will be available at public testing sites at no expense to employees.
These requirements are specific to patrons and employees of establishments where mask-wearing is compromised, the governor said.
“This has been a long journey and while we may not always agree we must always treat each other with respect regardless of our differences. We share the same values. We care about our island. And we want to protect our people. This is the path we must stay on,” the governor said.
Despite voices of opposition, many businesses started following the governor’s orders of checking vaccination cards on Monday.
There was also an unusually long line of people wanting to get their Covid-19 vaccination at Micronesia Mall following the governor’s latest executive order on Friday. On Monday, hundreds of Guamanians lined the Micronesia Mall’s upper and lower levels around the center court.
The Guam Chamber of Commerce, the largest business organization on the island, joined the Guam Hotel and Restaurant Association, groups, businesses and individuals in calling for the vaccine mandate to be either rescinded or modified.
“Executive Order 2021-19 singles out our unvaccinated population, puts a burden on a select group of businesses to police the vaccination status of individuals, and has created unintended consequences for our community,” the Chamber said in a statement.
Additional unemployment is among those, the group said.
The Chamber said it recognizes the importance of vaccination and the health of the community.
But at the same time, it said, it is an advocate for letting companies make their own business decisions about managing their operations and employees with respect to vaccination requirements for staff and customers.
Closed for dine-in
Some individual businesses that refuse to choose between vaccinated customers and those who are not, such as Stax in Hagåtña, have decided to close their dine-in spaces and instead limit their service to take-out or to-go for now.
Dr. Hoa Nguyen, the chairman of the governor’s own Physicians Advisory Group, also called for the order to be rescinded. PAG’s meeting with the governor got canceled, Nguyen said Monday night.
Nguyen was as surprised as everyone else about the specifics of the executive order, because it was not at all aligned with what PAG had recommended, including limiting the social gathering to 25 to make a dent. The governor still allows up to 100 people in social gatherings, so long as they’re vaccinated. Social gatherings have been linked to clusters.
‘Special class’
The order mandates employees in restaurants and some other businesses to show at least one dose of vaccination by Sept. 27, or they won’t be allowed to enter the establishments.
Most GovGuam employees are also mandated to get fully vaccinated by Sept. 24.
The Republican Party of Guam questioned why the governor, a Democrat, would create a “special class of citizen, specifically those employed by GovGuam,” referring to the directive for vaccinations for government workers but also providing an option of electing for weekly testing.
The governor’s amended mandate will allow private-sector employees with the same testing option, also paid for at government expense.
Other restaurants such as Meskla CHamoru Fusion Bistro said they “strongly oppose” the mandate requiring proof of vaccination, and asked guests and business leaders to contact senators “so they can put a stop to policies that divide the people of Guam.”
The governor imposed the vaccine mandates amid a surge in new cases, the spread of the highly transmissible delta variant, and hospitalization that has so far reached 25, including those in the intensive care unit and on ventilators.
People wait in the observation area after receiving their Covid-19 vaccine on Monday at the Micronesia Mall Vaccination Clinic in Dededo.
