23 US territory firefighters refused the Covid-19 vaccine - nine of them are now fired from their jobs

The US Northern Mariana Islands archipelago in the western Pacific applies a strict vaccination policy for public employees. Nine firefighters who refused to take the Covid-19 vaccine have now been fired.

The department of Fire and Emergency Medical Services Commissioner Dennis Mendiola  said on Monday that termination notices were sent to the nine firefighters who refused to get the Covid-19 vaccine.

Mendiola said the termination notices were reviewed and signed by the Office of Personnel Management and the Attorney General’s Office.

There were originally 23 firefighters who did not want to get the Covid-19 vaccine. Allegedly,  they said they would in turn take legal action against the government if they were terminated from their jobs.

Firefighter Shawn Delos Reyes Kaipat testified about his and his colleagues' concerns about side effects in front of the parliament building:

"We believe that these vaccines  are still in the test stage. We do not know what effects it could have in five or maybe ten years", he said to local newspapers.

The Northern Mariana Islands, officially the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI)  includes the 14 northernmost islands in the Mariana Archipelago. The  southernmost island, Guam, is a separate U.S. territory. The CNMI and Guam are the easternmost territories of the United States.

Cover illustration (Above): Map over the Mariana Islands in relationship to Japan. Illustration by Wikipedia