New and renewed work permits face vaccine condition
(CNS): Government appears to be planning to introduce a compulsory vaccine requirement for future overseas work permit holders and for those wanting to have their permit renewed. It is also looking at a reduction in the quarantine period for travellers who have had a full vaccination course and a negative test on arrival. But borders are unlikely to be opened in the summer, despite pressure from the hospitality sector. Premier Wayne Panton said that when the PACT came into office, he was expecting to find a plan mapping out process for opening that they could pick up. However, nothing was in place, so the new government is now working on a pathway to reopening.
Speaking on Radio Cayman on Monday, Panton said that none of the groundwork had been done on this, so they have been working with the technical civil servants over the last few weeks to create a programme.
“This process obviously involves an increase in risk for us,” Panton told Orrett Connor, the host of For the Record, as he explained the fundamental areas government is looking, the options available and the protocols needed to support the tourism industry as Cayman emerges from its current quarantine, testing and isolation bubble.
“Our success depends… on a number of factors, not just our own internal preparations but what is happening in the… gateway countries,” he said.
Vaccine rates in the UK and the relevant states in the United States, and the parameters that should be in place before opening are now at the heart of government’s plans. But Panton warned that while the UK and USA are close to achieving high vaccination prevalence, given the variants and a potential third wave in the UK, things could change.
Panton also spoke about the need to clarify what sort of timeline the tourism industry needs in order to ramp up, as he said they are receiving mixed messages from stakeholders. He said government had to carefully consider the implications for all residents presented by the increase in risk that comes with reducing the quarantine period to five days and then reopening
“It’s a heavy burden,” he said, adding that he wanted to minimize the risk.
He implored everyone to get vaccinated because while the Cayman Islands will get more vaccines from the UK in future, he wanted to see the maximum protection across the country before the borders open. But also, given the vaccine desperation around the rest of the world, it was essential we did not waste the doses we have.
The main issue around reopening is how to verify the vaccines that people say they have had, which is central to reducing the quarantine and isolation protocols. While we can be sure of the vaccines that have been administered locally to Cayman residents, verifying the shots people have had overseas will be much more difficult.
Tourism Minister Kenneth Bryan, who was also a guest on the show, said government was focusing on reopening for tourism and that included discussions with cruise lines about how they will manage safety issues.
But there is a greater focus on overnight tourism, and as the government works on the reopening protocols, he encouraged hospitality employers to recruit locally. He said they would still be allowed to apply for new permits, the government is now considering making it mandatory for future work permit applicants to be vaccinated as well as those seeking a renewed permit.
“Once you are going up for renewal, we can make it a condition for your renewal for a new work permit to make sure you are vaccinated,” he said, as he urged permit holders to encourage their employees to get the shot so that when they apply for renewal they have already had both doses and there will no additional delay to the application.
CayMAS, one of Cayman’s annual carnivals, has been cleared to go ahead under certain conditions in August. Bryan said that one of those conditions was that all those working and taking part in the street parade must have been vaccinated. In a press release issued Monday, organisers confirmed their agreement that all their workers will have had both shots two weeks before the event on 7 August.
Bryan said that hosting a carnival styled event before the borders are open means that the level of risk remains lower. “We therefore saw this event as an opportunity to encourage people to get vaccinated while also providing the incentive for doing so,” he said. “It also allows the effectiveness of our safety protocols with respect to large crowds to be assessed at the same time.”
Craig Frederick, Director of CayMAS Carnival, thanked government for giving the people of Cayman the opportunity to celebrate the pandemic victories the best way Caribbean people know how – through Carnival.
“To our overseas patrons who are desperate to be back on the road with us, have faith that 2022 will be spectacular,” he said. “We are mindful of the current environment as it relates to the COVID-19 pandemic and we have therefore agreed to a no-exceptions vaccination policy for all CayMAS participants and staff… This mandate will give everyone the chance to revel freely and safely on Seven Mile Beach and beyond, in what will be the region’s first major Carnival since the global lockdown.”
Prior to the event, organisers will actively promote the vaccination drive, and all participants will be given a COVID-19 pamphlet when collecting their costumes.
Although Batabano will be going ahead as well later this month, that carnival has been reduced to a series of small events and a very limited parade. It is not clear if participants in that street festival will be required to be vaccinated.
See Panton and Bryan on Radio Cayman below:
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Category: Local News, Travel
12:05 pm, well written, you are 100 % correct, no one really knows at this time what years ahead will bring, but I think its better to get the vaccine than to get the virus
Give Vaccine cards like the size of Driver licenses. So people can keep them in their wallets. The big bulky Vaccine cards that have now are NOT handy to carry around with you.
Nothing wrong that permit holders must get the Vaccine, please just get the vaccine, we need permit holders. But we need to be covid 19 free, so do your part to try to keep these Cayman Islands free of the Virus. Take a look at India, things are really bad there with thousands dying every day. Lets all do our part (expats and Caymanian) in keeping Cayman safe, thanks to you ALL.
A lot wrong with it ,let’s make it compulsory for everyone in that case, not just permit holders. That would be medical apartheid, and totally against their human rights. I don’t think you self appointed Caymanian virologists would be able to foist that one on your fellow countrymen . It will never happen anyway .
As for India they have very low death rates for Covid . They do however normally have over 7000 deaths per day, with over half being children , mainly from starvation , poor sanitation and awful living conditions.
4:08 pm, you are NOT up to date with the world news. If you don’t like it here, and to follow the the laws here, May i ask you what are you doing here ? Simply go back to your country and complain about the laws there, ok. Thanks.
yet they don’t respect the science that we need 70-80% to achieve herd immunity and try to get back to our normal lives?
I’m sorry to be the one to break it to you. Believe me, it pains me also. “Normal” is over with, for at least a couple of years, if then. Look at the rest of the world and gauge how things will go here also.
It doesn’t have much to do with the unvaxxed. It has to do more with the evolution of the disease. I don’t like it either, but I am pragmatic and I am an adaptive survivor.
Cayman remains on AMBER list. Maybe because there is no opening date or plan in place.
Why add extra flights if the border remains closed?
Because demand exceeds supply?
As a WPH I took my shots back in Feb/March when my letter day came because I have family who got sick from Covid.
I know people who died from Covid. I had to watch funerals and weddings, celebrate milestones with my family via Zoom Sype, Google Meets etc.
My life is not contained in this Cayman bubble I did what was necessary … BUT IT IS NOT US who are hesitant to take the vaccine it is Caymanians in particular GENERATIONAL CAYMANIANS.
… they can “repatriate” flight on Cayman Airways or BA all they want, once they can afford to ticket and come and go as they please … there is no cost to them to return because they stay FREE in CIG quarantine facility … so there is no concern about the cost of quarantine at a hotel for 6 – 18 days…
They can roll up to visit family and friends whenever they want … for us WPH were are not as fortunate
We who have family and loved ones elsewhere see the reality but it is only us WPH the PACT can compel to get vaccinated … but then again we are disposable.
You are carrying around resentment and hate that will not result in any positive outcomes. Just focus on yourself and what you need to do and leave other people to make their own decisions.
Get you jab and your turtle stew bobo.
why the dislikes?
It’s the references to generational Caymanians in a negative context – it’s a trigger issue irrespective of the context. Surprised he didn’t get a “don’t let the door hit you on the way out “ comment.
The only sensible thing from this comment was your last six words.
I listened to most of the show.
Kenneth needs to stay away from quoting numbers, this has never been his strong suit. He said the government wants to see 70% – 80% of the population vaccinated. He explained that 80% of the population of 63,000 people is different than 80% of the population of 67,000 people.
80% of any number is still 80%.
I was told that he also said that when we open our borders, we may have to return to social distancing and masking indoors. I hope he did not say that. If so, why get vaccinated? Back to listening……
I don’t care what Kenneth or Wayne say. I won’t be social distancing or wearing a mask when borders open. I am not a slave to these politicians.
someone had to say it
I agree with 11:29. It is not acceptable that we who are vaccinated and mindful of others are being held hostage by the ignorant and uncaring ones. And worse, government is pandering to the lowest common denominator. And for those of you who want to tell me to leave and not come back – you just verify your ignorance for the situation by saying that. If everyone left as you say we should and not come back this country would economically collapse. Maybe it’s time to grow up and realize you are not privileged in this world. We all belong to the same community called humanity and there is truth to the saying “no man is an island”.
If a bunch of you left, there would be a bunch more lined up to take your place.
You are privileged to be here. If you don’t like our choices, you are in fact free to leave and return to your home country. This is ours.
True, “beggars” cannot be choosers.
If you cannot comply with our rules, you don’t have to go home but you can’t stay here.
You are not independent, go ahead and leave as you tell everyone else to do.
This is much more my country that it will ever be yours so cut the crap. Take it like it is or leave.
I thought John-John & Alden had all these plans all worked out????
What were they doing, waiting on a full moon????
No maybe waiting to catch the donkey for a ride!
Can anyone let us know where our Red Bay representative is at? Now that he is no longer Premier he should be doing things in our neglected community as for years he did nothing but the excuse was he was busy being the premier. Well he is no longer burdened with all those responsibilities so how about helping out the community that you are supposed to be representing!
9:56 am, your premier is a smart sensible man, Red Bay voters are the stupid ones, in case you forgot you are the ones that voted him in.
I guess the bullet points need repeating over and over.
1. 99.7% of unvaccinated people survive covid 19
2. The Pfizer vaccine is 95% effective in preventing illness due to covid.
3. Taking 1 and 2 into account, vaccinated individuals risk of serious illness or death due to covid-19 is nearly ZERO.
4. If you are vaccinated and test positive for covid 19, again see 3.
5. Vaccinated individuals who have tested positive for covid are far less likely to infect others, but if they do, see 3.
6. The CDC recommends the Pfizer vaccine for all individuals over the age of 12 including pregnant women, individuals with autoimmune disease, elderly etc. The only exception noted is for those who have extreme allergic reactions to specific ingredients in the vaccine itself. This does not mean people who are generally allergic to various things. Polyethylene glycol is one cited ingredient.
7. The Pfizer vaccine is effective against variants.
8. The since vaccination programs have been widely implemented in the US and UK, infections and deaths have sharply plummeted demonstrating that the vaccine is highly effective.
FANTASTIC post! We’d all be better off if people would stop listening to unfactual fear-mongering for a minute and look at the scientifically-based evidence!
The people downvoting the scientific facts which should be viewed as great news need a serious psychological evaluation.
It is as though they are upset by that fact that the pandemic is largely over or under control. They don’t want it to be over. They want mask mandates and restrictions. Anything that erodes fear is frowned upon. It’s sick.
Because there is always a choice in life, comply with the rules or leave. Whenever we go to another country or even in the days of our seafarers we always abided by the rules of that country or faced the consequences. But I must say Caymanians are mainly law abiding citizens and this is what attracted people here in the first place our relatively peaceful life. Make a choice then.
Would you like to be the Education Minister,? Please.
You have all the “Good” facts and no dispute with that. If that was all then it is an obvious choice to take it. Balance all that with the risk of taking a drug that is only approved for emergency because of no trial. No one on this planet can tell you what it will do to a human body in 3 years time. If you and your kids take it you are the trial. Pfizer was not doing well because of lawsuits against it before Covid. It’s vaccine is pulling it out of the hole it got into selling drugs that harmed people. The vaccine could potentially be a bigger threat than the Virus or nothing. Choose for yourselves. I choose to believe that the vaccines will do good but…I do not know.
But dry humping on public roads in 120 degree heat, we cool wid dat.
Some of it’s not so dry.
Stop it. That’s culture.
Carnival was never Caymanian culture until the white folks started spending all their money in Trinidad and similar places.
So some idiot came up with Batabano and the even more ridiculous Pirates’ Week piss up, neither of which have really much to do with Cayman.
Having said that, the pirates are still here it’s just that they wear suits now.
Yes. You can’t protest against a walking dryhump, which incidentally, is the antithesis of social distancing. Nope. That’s racist, and culturally constrictive.
Oh wait! Let’s splash a healthy amount of alcohol in the mix! weeeeeee! What could possibly go wrong?
lawyers, are you paying attention to that ? time to make more money!!!!
“But there is a greater focus on overnight tourism, and as the government works on the reopening protocols, he encouraged hospitality employers to recruit locally. He said they would still be allowed to apply for new permits, the government is now considering making it mandatory for future work permit applicants to be vaccinated as well as those seeking a renewed permit.
“Once you are going up for renewal, we can make it a condition for your renewal for a new work permit to make sure you are vaccinated,” he said, as he urged permit holders to encourage their employees to get the shot so that when they apply for renewal they have already had both doses and there will no additional delay to the application.”
Lol, you realize Wayne himself is a lawyer right? As was Alden. As a government they are well within their rights to protect the population of these islands, especially from maniacs like you.
No lawsuit would get anywhere.
Not so sure about that. Government has an obligation to act reasonably and impartially, or they are vulnerable to judicial review. If government requires private sector expatriate workers to get vaccinated, but not expat civil servants, they are going to have a problem with the impartial bit. And if government is still offers quarantine to non vaccinated arrivals, as quarantine eliminates the risk to the community, then why does the expat WP holder have to be vaccinated rather than just do the quarantine? Think there is a slight problem there on the reasonableness criteria. But highly unlikely that government would get sued – people will just get vaccinated.
The real problem is that in a society where there are already serious us and them tensions between expats and locals, the Premier is setting a completely different standard for one part of the population from the other, which has no relationship to the inherent risk of catching or transmitting the disease. Its massively divisive, but politically easy, since the expats cant vote, and an easy route to getting his vaccination stats higher without having to confront the resistance to vaccination amongst a hard core of the Caymanian population, including one of his own Ministers. I guess we should not be surprised – political expediency was on show the moment he cut a deal with Mac, despite having resigned from the PPM over the same issue.
Expatriate Civila Servants should be given a work permit immediately to solve this issue.
Work permit holders can’t vote them out of office. Everyone else can
THE YEAR IS 2035 AND THE Cayman Islands GOV STILL HAS NO PLAN.
There really still is no opening date, is there? Just mention of a spectacular 2022. Will this be January or December? What will have survived a 2 year closure to make it spectacular?
Well not one that works for you anyway..sit your butt down and wait like everybody else. We will get this don and we will get it done safely and well planned. We have done well so far and we will continue to do so..not rushing because you want to sue or want our borders thrown wide open..
9:29 am. You make an interesting point though it may be argued that a vaccinated traveler will still have to quarantine and test negative before being released therefore they do not pose a risk to the public. The question is, can you test positive after 10 days? Not sure what the ever-changing science says about this?
How about people in the UK or US etc. who do not have the benefit of the closed borders we have who do get the vaccine/gene therapy and still pass on the virus unknowingly? The argument is that the unvaccinated people are selfish but how can that be when the vaccinated can also unknowingly pass on the virus? And when does the immunity that the vaccine allegedly provides end and the required booster shot become necessary?
10:47 Love your post!
If a vaccinated person gets infected (highly unlikely) and infects another person (highly unlikely) if the person infected is also vaccinated, they don’t get sick. Do you think it’s selfish to remove freedoms from people because someone doesn’t want to be vaccinated? Maybe the vaccinated person didn’t want to get vaccinated either but they did it anyway because they aren’t selfish.
Exactly! You and 9:29 are a ray of common sense among all this tinfoil hat (both sides) stuff. governments are not thinking at all correctly about quarantine, whether vax or unvax’d. Either way, both sets of people transmit covid if they’ve caught it. And your queston about when the booster is needed is so on the mark – nobody knows!
If you follow the logic, which so many do not wish to do (because frankly they’re just done, dusted, want it all to end and that’s fair enough), it results in a world where the vaccines are redundant.
Combine that with the known lack of improved effectiveness of the vaccine for anyone with little to no underlying issues, along with the known treatments in existence (ivermectin mainly), what is the point in prolonging borer closures or seeking to jab anybody?
None. But try to get the vax’d or the scared (but will never get vax’d) to understand and accept this. its like religion or politics. ANd it shouldnt be. It’s all fact.
You make absolutely NO sense. Logic couldn’t have been your best grade in school.
It’s about time, the same should happen in the U.K.
If you come to our country for work, you must comply with our public health standards.
Ban smokers and drinkers too because health
If borders are not open for one to come in, one should not be allowed to travel out. It should be reciprocal and only for vaccinated travelers.
Why stop at Covid? There’s a long list of people you could ban