EDITOR’S NOTE: In January, #HealthCaribbean looked at healthcare in the Caribbean travel industry in our edition 2021-01-14. This newsletter re-visits this topic. Four destinations are covered: Jamaica, Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, and the Dominican Republic. The latter is the subject in two of the five articles; while the remaining destinations each have one article apiece.
Our headline, taken from the Jamaica Observer, reads: “American Medical Companies Partnering To Carry Out COVID-19 Testing Project in Jamaica”. The companies – AllStar Health Brands Incorporated and TPT MedTech LLC – are partnering to install their ‘QuikPASS’ and ‘QuickLAB’ Systems at Jamaica’s two main international airports.
Meanwhile, Aruba has partnered with Jetblue airlines to use the CommonPass digital health pass at its international airport, in conjunction with two offsite American COVID-19 testing facilities – Vault and XpresCheck. Antigua and Barbuda on the other hand have started vaccinating frontline workers in their tourism Industry.
Finally, The Dominican Republic has started vaccinations in their largest tourism centre – Punta Cana. And, their government has extended its free health insurance programme to the end of the month. This vaccination process coupled with the extended insurance is “essential to reactivate the hotel industry and other activities related to the tourist industry”.