Jamaica’s goal of vaccinating all tourism workers across the island got a shot in the arm with today’s roll-out of a series of vaccination blitzes organised by the tourism ministry. The work is being done by the newly named Tourism Vaccination Task Force.
“The task force has been working assiduously since its first meeting on August 20, to ensure that we make it easier for our tourism workers to have access to the vaccines. We are so grateful to our partners who have made it possible for us to begin our series of vaccination blitzes today, which will undoubtedly bring us closer to our national goal of herd immunity,” said Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett.
“Our target is to ensure that all 170,000 tourism workers are vaccinated and protected from the possible harm that can come from contracting the deadly COVID-19 virus and its variants. This will aid in our recovery efforts for the sector and, by extension, the country,” he added.
Minister Bartlett emphasised that vaccination is not mandatory, but necessary.
“This initiative is aimed at encouraging our tourism workers to take the vaccine voluntarily. The vaccination of tourism workers is key to tourism’s full recovery. So, I encourage all our tourism workers to get vaccinated to play your part in safeguarding our tourism sector,” he urged.
Organised vaccination blitzes began at the Pegasus, Kingston, on August 30. They will continue at Sandals Negril on September 2 and Moon Palace in Ochi Rios on September 3. The vaccination blitz to be hosted at Moon Palace will target 1,000 tourism workers.
The task force is working in tandem with the Ministry of Health and Wellness, the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ) and various tourism stakeholders, both within the public and private sectors, to streamline and expedite the vaccination of tourism workers.
The vaccination blitzes are being hosted in collaboration with the Private Sector Vaccine Initiative. The sites for Montego Bay, Port Antonio and the South Coast will be determined at a later date.
Among the persons being targeted are workers in hotels, villas and guest houses, attractions, airports, cruise ports, craft markets as well as ground transportation operators.