Gay Nagle Myers
How to convince the unvaccinated to take the jab has become a thorny, sensitive and often politicized issue for many countries and destinations, including in the Caribbean.
Encouraging employees and locals to vaccinate is challenging. Many times doing so requires overcoming barriers of awareness, availability and vaccine hesitancy.
At a session hosted by Caribbean Hotel and Tour Association in late July, a panel of Caribbean hoteliers and tourism executives shared strategies and techniques that successfully turned challenges into opportunities.
Joy St. John, the executive director of the Caribbean Public Health Agency (Carpha), the regional body that provides strategic direction and responses to public health priorities in the region, outlined just a few of the challenges that have faced that agency in the last 18 months.
"It takes a lot of work to reach herd immunity," she said. "As a region, we face the challenge of getting enough vaccines, then we face the delays encountered when the vaccines are shipped as well as hesitancy on the part of some to get vaccinated, and now we have the emergence of the variants.
"We have to be strategic and remain vigilant in our fight to overcome this serious pandemic."
Grenada to require vaccinations of guests and staff
Leo Garbutt, president of the Grenada Hotel & Tourism Association, admitted that "none of us knew how long Covid would be here, but as 2020 wore on, we realized that we had to choose our health over our livelihood."
Grenada's case numbers are remarkable in that they totaled only 164 by the end of July"
"Some people here believe there is no Covid because case numbers are so low," he said. "They listen to the local news and follow social media. There is so much misinformation that is not good at all."
To keep the cases numbers low, the government ruled on July 31 that only vaccinated visitors are allowed to enter the country. Grenada went a step further by requiring that all hotel staff be fully vaccinated in order for the hotel to be certified as safe for visitors.
"This is a safeguard for our hotels, which have suffered a great deal," Garbutt said. "We have to look after the health of our citizens. We know that we are limiting the size of our market, but we need to maintain a healthy, safe environment for our people and our visitors."
Resorts talk about staff vaccination strategies
The Crane hotel in Barbados with 500 staff members has been running a campaign since February to encourage its workers to take the shots.
"We removed the inconvenience of them having to go elsewhere to get vaccinated by setting up on-site vaccinations. Now 70% of our staff has received at least one dose," said Eboni Phillips, marketing and communications manager.
Enticements such as the on-site vaxxing facility and raffles are working, according to Phillips. Those employees not yet vaccinated must be tested weekly.
More than 50% of hotel staff on Antigua and Barbuda have been vaccinated to date, according to Patrice Simon, executive director of the Antigua and Barbuda Hotel & Tourism Association.
"We're offering dedicated vaccination sites, using videos and public service announcements, posting photos of the hospitality employees who have been vaccinated and we're promoting the destination and vaccine numbers to our visitors," Simon said.
Laudra Maurille-Willie, human resources manager at Bay Gardens Resorts in St. Lucia, said that "education, open lines of communication and convenience regarding the vaccination sites as well as flyers, videos and sessions with medical experts are working for our four properties."
For those employees who had concerns about getting the vaccine, "we met one on one with them to discuss their concerns," Maurille-Willie said.
Currently, 72% of staff at Bay Gardens Resorts collection has been vaccinated.
"We hope to reach 80% in the next few weeks," she said.
Seven Stars Resort & Spa in Turks and Caicos launched its vaccination campaign in January, according to Ken Patterson, CEO.
"The vaccines were flown in from the U.K., and we started informing our staff of 250 a month before the vaccines arrived," he said. "Local clinics had sign-up times for appointments and by the end of the first week 60% to 70% of our staff had registered and by March, 70% were vaccinated."
Incentives included a cash gift of $100 per person, a weekly drawing for $1,000 for those who had taken the jab and team events that were open to vaccinated staff.
"If you work for Seven Stars you must be vaccinated, and that goes for all new hires. No jab, no job," Patterson said.
Jamaica's plan: Encouragement and education
Jamaica has no mandatory policy regarding vaccination for workers, according to Nicola Madden-Grieg, chair of the marketing committee for the Jamaica Hotel & Tourist Association.
"We're focused on encouraging our hospitality workers, listening to their concerns and hesitation regarding the vaccines and bringing in medical experts to help them understand the importance to themselves and those around them of getting the vaccines," she said.