by Linda Straker
- Seabourn cruises, homebased in Barbados, is expected later this month
- Only fully vaccinated visitors will be permitted to enter country
- Terms and conditions for Grenadians will be different
Tourism Minister Dr Clarice Modeste has announced that Grenada will be moving to allow only fully vaccinated visitors to the country via both the airport and the seaport, but that rule will not apply to returning nationals.
“We have intensified our discussions with the Ministry of Health. Leading, being involved in tourism and having seen the suffering of the tour operators, of the vendors, of everybody else, my first impulse is to take what you get. But this is not ordinary times, this is Covid times and therefore, with we being led by the Ministry of Health, they are insisting that 100% of our guests must be fully vaccinated,” Modeste announced during the Grenada Tourism Authority (GTA) news conference last Friday.
“Health want to make sure that all of the Ts are crossed and the Is are dotted, and that Grenada’s protocol and requirements are being adhered to… the main thing is everybody has to be fully vaccinated,” she replied in response to a question about the resumption of cruise ships selecting Grenada as a stop-off destination.
Seabourn, which is homebased in Barbados, is expected later this month and will be the first cruise ship to berth in Grenada after the country entered lockdown in late March 2020.
The policy of only fully vaccinated visitors will be granted permission to enter the country will also extend to stayover passengers entering via the airport. There will be an exception for returning nationals. “We cannot put those conditions for Grenadians, the terms and conditions for Grenadians will have to be different,” Modeste said.
The current policy is that all visitors who are fully vaccinated will only be required to spend no more than 48 hours in quarantine. All incoming passengers who are fully vaccinated are mandated to do an on-island PCR Covid test and once it is negative, the individual will be allowed to mingle with the public. A positive result will see the person remaining in quarantine. Individuals with only one dose of the vaccination are required to spend up to 7 days in quarantine and must test negative before they are allowed to mingle with the public.
Health authorities are aware of people using fake documents, and documents are being examined for authenticity. Several incoming passengers have been charged for presenting falsified documents to immigration and health authorities.
it is so weird that individuals are forced beyond their rights to take a vaccine( and I know what the comments might be; oh they are not forced it’s either they take it and enter or not take it and stay where they are)but the principle behind this is that giving people an ultimatum wanting them to do something against their will is weird, let people go on living their daily lives let the country go on as normal, if you think not taking the vaccine would kill people let the unvaccinated die(and I say this most unselfishly) because I am neither anti vaxer nor pro-vaxer I am just an individual with an opinion and a breastfeeding mom (and someone who believes people should decide for themselves) if you think that the vaccine will save a life let the vaccinated live in glory. they should not have anything to fear because in the first explanation that was given globally they said once the vaccine is taken then you cannot be infected now it is a different story saying both vaccinated persons and unvaccinated can be affected by the covid, if its an ultimatum you guys need I demand you get your facts straight before forcing a decision on people and restricting people from going places and finding jobs to support their families it’s highly ridiculous (when did free will become a choice of someone choosing for you? instead of demanding lead by educating the people and then they will decide by THEMSELVES(of course people are scared there are all sorts of stories that persons did not recover from taking the vaccine, persons are numb in some areas of their bodies( i can attest to that having a friend who went through that), people having aches and pains you as the leader of the people should reassure people about the vaccine if you need them to take it