Despite being over two and a half months since Dr. Carika Weldon announced her resignation
as the head of the Molecular Diagnostic Laboratory and the Government’s official scientific advisor, she feels that the remaining lab staff are being punished for her departure, when they
had nothing to do with it.
From her perspective, it seems like the Government is trying to fold up
the lab and pack it into a corner.
“ MDL was never intended to be simply a pop-up COVID lab,” she said. “ It was always designed for longevity, and the vision was to do specific molecular testing that is either not offered on the island at all or is offered at a very high price without insurance.”
According to Dr. Weldon, she and the staff even discussed their plans for the lab with officials from Public Health England and they were excited to see where the lab would be going in the
future.
“ It’s clear that [our] vision for the lab was not shared by those who are now in charge of things,” she said. “ The team, their effort, our investment in time, the skills that were imparted into those
who were part of the team has not been appreciated and has been broken down.”
When Dr. Weldon left the lab at the end of January, it was during the height of the Omicron variant and there were 37 total staff at the lab, 20 of whom were working in the lab itself.
According to Dr. Weldon, there are currently five staff working there, with two admins, two managers and one more person whom she says the Government is bringing in to fill the tenth position.
Stay tuned to TNN for more of our exclusive interview with Dr. Weldon