HAGÅTÑA, GUAM - We urge Governor Leon Guerrero to rescind EO 2021-19.
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.
Small businesses throughout our island continue to struggle with staying afloat as well as hiring and retaining staff. Their business operations may be compromised if their employees choose not to comply and cannot work, as well as forcing businesses to potentially let employees go.
In addition, it will compromise our very fragile tourism industry. Visitors who come to the island unvaccinated, then choose to be vaccinated, cannot frequent our restaurants and bars unless they receive their second shot two weeks after that. By then, they will likely be leaving the island.
While recognizing the importance of vaccination and the health of our community, the Guam Chamber of Commerce 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. Some businesses were already exercising this right prior to last Friday’s Executive Order, and we support their right to do that.
We urge Governor Leon Guerrero to rescind EO 2021-19. While we all want to keep our people as safe as possible, we need to keep our residents employed.
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August 23, 2021
