Jamaica Launches Drive to Vaccinate all Tourism Employees

Jamaica has established a new Tourism Vaccination Task Force, launching an ambitious drive to vaccinate all 170,000 tourism workers on the island.

Jamaica’s Minister of Tourism, Edmund Bartlett, is leading the task force.

Bartlett has organized a series of voluntary vaccination blitzes located at strategic sites across the country. The initiative aims to increase access to vaccinations for Jamaica’s tourism workers, including individuals working in hotels, villas and guest houses, attractions, airports, cruise ports, craft markets as well as ground transportation operators.

“The immunization of tourism workers is vital to safeguarding Jamaica’s tourism sector and the Tourism Vaccination Task Force has been working assiduously to ensure that we make it easier for our essential workers to have access to vaccines,” Bartlett said. “Our target is to ensure that all of Jamaica’s 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 island-wide vaccination program will aid in our recovery efforts for the sector and by extension the country.”

Tourism worker vaccination drives began at The Jamaica Pegasus Hotel in Kingston on August 30 and continued at Sandals Negril on September 2 and Moon Palace Hotel in Ocho Rios on September 3.