Jamaica’s Ministry of Tourism is on a major drive to get workers in the industry vaccinated, according to Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett. 

“We are looking now at an incentive program with transportation and possibly some refreshment and entertainment and so on,” Bartlett said. “Whatever it is going to take to get our people – the workers of the industry in particular – to register first and then to vaccinate, we will do.”

Jamaica’s tourism sector has been open since June of 2020. 

The Ministry has already established a task force on tourism vaccination, led by Permanent Secretary, Jennifer Griffith and President of the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association, Clifton Reader. 

“It’s a very well-rounded team of individuals who understand what the need for that vaccination process is and, more importantly, are committed to driving a program that will help to strengthen the ability of all of us to respond, whether by way of providing incentives for it or to come in with the communication strategies that will help to convince people to vaccinate,” Bartlett said. 

The country’s efforts also included a big push for vaccination in the Ocho Rios prior to the return of cruise ships last week. 

“In conjunction with the Ministry of Health and Wellness, we did a blitz for vaccination in the area that covered a number [of tourism workers and stakeholders],” Bartlett said. “We can’t say that it covered everybody because there is that level of hesitancy that is still in the system that we are working hard at.”

— CJ