Are vaxxed fetes the future?
Jamaica recently opened the Entertainment sector due to relatively low covid numbers and the plight of the many who depend on the sector for income.
The largest event so far will be “I love Soca” which usually hosts thousands of patrons.
This year, apart from having early bird and late bird tickets they also have a vaccinated ticket category.
This category is only open to confirmed vaccinated persons and gives VIP treatment including: VIP parking, easy access to the event, and a VIP section in the party. This treatment comes at the cost however as VIP/vaxxed tickets cost more than the regular unvaccinated tickets.
Many on social media decry this as being a form of “vaccine apartheid” but if you ask me…..this is the future (at least in the short to medium term) and I actually support going a step further and would pay more to attend parties accessible only to the fully vaccinated.
Now that events are being held, the focus while covid rates remain low is to keep the events as safe as possible for the patrons and to prevent the events from being sources of community spread.
Having parties full of only vaccinated patrons would succeed in both these fronts as vaccinated persons are unlikely to have Corona in the first place and if they do transiently carry the virus they are less likely to spread it as they are usually asymptomatic and almost never develop severe disease.
The unvaccinated are the ones at risk of hospitalization and death and even if it wasn’t mandated I would hope they would 1. Think twice before attending a large event if they have comorbid conditions 2. Mask ALLLLLL the way up and 3.Social distance.
I think having vaccinated only events will also help give the encouragement for some who still sit on the vaccine fence to just get the jukk and get back to a stress free life. The feeling of relief after vaccination was unmatched. It made me realize how stressed I really was all those months during the pandemic.
The caveat to this is that USA and Europe are basically hoarding the available supply and India have to try save themselves from Delta. Doses are hard to come by for islands like Jamaica.
All the same, doses are being given daily here in Jamaica. If you want it…go try try try till you get it. Vaccination is the ONLY reasonable way out of the pandemic given the available options.
Until you do, remember that you are the weakest link and taking full precautions is still the way to go. And for us vaxxed feters, protect your fellow vulnerable Jamaicans and Mask up!
