While Jamaican across the diaspora have been rolling up their sleeves to get the COVID-19 vaccine, those living on the island have been watching and waiting.

The Jamaican health ministry had previously indicated that roughly 16% of the island’s population would be vaccinated in 2021. This means that COVID-19 will still pose a threat to the majority of the island’s population well into 2022.

Speaking to Bloomberg QuickTake’s Tim Stenovec recently, Prime Minister Andrew Holness said that rich nations are slowing the global vaccination efforts by hoarding the shots for their citizens.

“The surplus purchasing of vaccines by wealthy countries is hoarding. Prudent planning would be to ensure that there is a consummate spread of the vaccine right across the world. The world has to reach a certain threshold in vaccination in order for us to defeat the virus. It’s a false sense of security, unless you intend to close your borders permanently, that would leave any country to believe that if they vaccinate their population alone, then they’re safe,” he said.

Jamaica is one of the countries that have joined the COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access (COVAX) Facility, a global collaboration launched by GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, and the World Health Organization, to ensure equitable access to the COVID-19 vaccines; especially for the world’s poorest countries. But wealthy nations like the U.S., Russia and China, have not supported the effort.

Prime Minister Holness pointed out that the COVID-19 vaccines are an important part of global tourism recovery.

Since reopening the island’s borders in June 2020, the Jamaican government has experienced some difficulty in coronavirus management. But Holness says despite the challenges, the reopening has been generally successful.

“We are at about 30% occupancy right now. Our earnings are down about 70%, but our industry is strong and we’re finding creative ways of surviving. We are dependent on tourism so we want to see travel return, but of course, it has to be safe for everyone,” Holness said.

Jamaica is expected to begin receiving the COVID-19 vaccines in April. Prime Minister Holness says he’ll lead by example and take the vaccine once it becomes available locally.

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Almost a year into the COVID-19 pandemic, the United States will now require that all incoming passengers, including American citizens, present a negative COVID-19 test before boarding their flight.

The announcement was made by the country’s top public health agency, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

In a statement, the agency said that, “testing before and after travel is a critical layer to slow the introduction and spread of COVID-19. This strategy is consistent with the current phase of the pandemic and more efficiently protects the health of Americans.”

The announcement is also in light of new strains of COVID-19 now being detected in the country. A CDC map shows that there are 72 strains of the new variant of COVID-19 in the United States (as of January 11), with Florida and California having the most reported cases.

As per the new guidelines, air passengers are required to get a viral test (a test for current infection) within the 3 days before their flight to the U.S. departs, and provide written documentation of their laboratory test result (paper or electronic copy) to the airline or provide documentation of having recovered from COVID-19.

Airlines must confirm the negative test result for all passengers or documentation of recovery before they board. If a passenger does not provide documentation of a negative test or recovery, or chooses not to take a test, the airline must deny boarding to the passenger.

“Testing does not eliminate all risk,” says CDC Director Robert R. Redfield, MD, “but when combined with a period of staying at home and everyday precautions like wearing masks and social distancing, it can make travel safer, healthier, and more responsible by reducing spread on planes, in airports, and at destinations.”

This order was signed by the CDC Director on January 12, 2021, and will become effective on January 26, 2021.

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Joshua Seemungal

and Geisha Alonzo

The Downtown Owners and Merchants Association (DOMA) has listed ways the organization believes that a Carnival can still be held in Trinidad and Tobago this year.

Among the concerns of the Port-of-Spain business organization, is that the lack of some sort of Carnival can have psychological effects on nationals.

However, Minister of Tourism, Culture and the Arts Randall Mitchell is maintaining that Carnival this year remains canceled.

DOMA laid out its position in a media statement yesterday, reminding the government that Carnival is part of the ‘economic DNA of T&T’ and is usually what kickstarts the economy each year.

“We however also wish to posture that, in our respectful opinion, Carnival is also part of our cultural and psychological DNA for huge cross-sections of our citizens especially our young people. It represents our creativity, exuberance and fun-loving nature that has made us the popular Carnival destination that we are. It’s absence could have a very depressing effect on us psychologically,” DOMA said.

In that regard, DOMA outlined five ways in which, what it called a COVID Carnival can be held.

The measured included:

(1) A unique limited edition 3ft diameter costume that by definition would keep two masqueraders at least 6ft apart.

(2) A moving parade of reduced numbers, which carefully supervised, would maintain social distancing and because of reduced numbers would be allowed to move freely through the streets.

(3) A moving Panorama competition, judged on the move by judges who are also moving on platforms and including a rearrangement of pan so that the sound effect is not diminished by the requested social distancing.

(4) An open-air calypso tent reminiscent of the very geniuses of calypso who sang under a tent with all applicable seating arrangements and distancing employed with all safety protocols applied.

(5) The creation of a unique Carnival Covid Mask (perhaps a Carnival Mask Competition with health criteria included in the conditions) which not only protects the spectators and the masqueraders but becomes a symbol of the design genius among our citizens which is often paid lip service but hardly given its rightful recognition by those who hold the reigns.

DOMA said that to discard Carnival 2021 without any efforts to find an imaginative alternative, “is to say that we have also discarded our creative thinking that we so often pride ourselves on.”

It added: “We, of our own volition, seem to be giving back the cultural ‘trophy’ that the world gave us and standing on the sidelines without any effort at innovation. We seem to be fulfilling the doctrine of underdevelopment of ‘why take risks when we can do nothing and have nothing to do’.”

It added that comparisons with other major carnivals that have been cancelled will only prove a “special T&T brand of intellectual impotence.”

“The mere fact that others have canceled their Carnival actually leaves the proverbial stage of life vacant for us here in T&T to host some type of unique evolutionary festival. Scaled-down substantially of course but an exhibition nevertheless of our great talent and cultural richness,” DOMA noted.

DOMA argued that the Carnival vacuum created internationally by COVID-19 represents a novel opportunity for this country to prove its Carnival worth and creative genius to the world.

Responding to DOMA’s proposal, Minister Mitchell reiterated that, “Carnival 2021 was canceled as announced by the Prime Minister. This decision was based on the best health data and advice in order to protect the lives of our citizens and to reduce the spread of COVID-19.”

Pan Trinbago’s President Beverly Ramsey-Moore saw merit in a possible moving-pan competition but said it certainly will not be Panorama.

“Not a Panorama. We don’t want to take away from Panorama. You don’t want to do something that takes away from what Panorama is really all about – the vibes, the presentation and musical arrangement,” Ramsey-Moore said.

Saying Panorama typically begins in December, Pan Trinbago’s president said the competition is all about community, meaning it involves high levels of interaction between people.

“It’s community soul,” she added.

Given the continued threat of the pandemic, she added, Pan Trinbago is not prepared to take any chances.

“Because it encourages large crowds and because people come from all over Trinidad and Tobago, then we have to be extremely careful. Our first priority is the lives of our players and people coming to the panyard,” she said in closing.

Attempts to contact the chairman of the National Carnival Commission Winston ‘Gypsy’ Peters by telephone for his views were unsuccessful.
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The Organization of American States (OAS) and the Central Electoral Board of the Dominican Republic signed an agreement today to promote the quality of the electoral processes of the Dominican electoral body in accordance with the standards of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).

The Chair of the Board, Román Jáquez, stressed that the initiative will allow working under the electoral standard ISO 54001, which complies with a series of international standards to carry out transparent electoral processes. “We are sure that this agreement will strengthen electoral integrity, democracy, institutions and ultimately the electoral system of the Dominican Republic,” said Jáquez.

For his part, the Secretary General of the OAS, Luis Almagro, recalled the joint work carried out both in the field of electoral observation and technical cooperation in the country, highlighting the link between the recommendations presented by the OAS Electoral Observation Missions and the content of this Agreement.

“We are pleased that technical cooperation mechanisms are being established to carry out a diagnosis and analysis related to ISO standards regarding electoral technology, information security and the quality of electoral processes in general,” said Secretary General Almagro, who congratulated the Board for its “willingness to join efforts that contribute to institutional strengthening.”

The signing ceremony was held at the OAS headquarters in Washington, D.C., and was attended by the ambassadors of the Dominican Republic to the White House, Sonia Guzmán and the OAS, Josué Fiallo, among other authorities.

Reference: FNE-100258

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