In an effort to encourage more tourism workers to get vaccinated, the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association (JHTA) will be ramping up its public education campaign under the COVID-19 Ambassador Programme.

According to JHTA President Clifton Reader, despite efforts made by the Ministry of Health and Wellness to inform the public of the importance of getting vaccinated, many Jamaicans, and in particular those employed in the hospitality sector, continue to “sit on the fence” on the matter of vaccination.

As a result, Reader argues that the Ambassador initiative aims to target these “fence sitters” within the tourism sector and highlight to them the benefits of the COVID-19 vaccine and the role it will play in better protecting their families and wider communities.

He said: “If we produce the facts to them in a way that they can understand it, then I believe that they would make the decision to go out and take the vaccine.”

Of the initiative’s 40 ambassadors spread across hotels and attractions in Ocho Rios, Montego Bay, Negril, St Elizabeth, Portland, and Kingston, quite a few have already taken the vaccine, inspiring their colleagues to follow suit.

Relaying that after surveying approximately 3,030 hotel employees of which 35 per cent indicated they would take the vaccine and 42 per cent said maybe, Reader said that “a lot more people are willing to take it… now that they have seen the fact that we have taken it and we have not fallen down or fallen out”.

The COVID-19 Ambassador Programme was launched in October 2020 to communicate the four pillars of the COVID-19 safety protocols at the community level – social distancing, mask-wearing, sanitising, and handwashing. The programme involves select ambassadors employed in the accommodation and attractions sectors.