A Dutch Caribbean hospitality business is offering employees in Aruba cold, hard cash to vaccinate, because it says many Americans want to visit the destination again and hopes to send a reassuring message about their safety. Two relevant specialists in neighbouring Curaçao, although they understood the reasoning, expressed reservations about this “incentive”, because the doctors would rather people choose to vaccinate.
Meanwhile, a supermarket on the latter island reportedly posted a notice telling personnel they will need proof of at least an appointment for vaccination or a negative PCR test from May 1, which led to quite a debate on social media. Opponents call it a violation of both labour laws and human rights, while others point out that requiring COVID-19 testing from, for example, medical professionals was never questioned.
While these are obviously two different approaches (see related stories), they seek to solve a similar problem – namely, that unless most of the staff is vaccinated, there will continue to be coronavirus-related health risks at the workplace. The same goes for the entire community until so-called “herd immunity” can be achieved.
Some argue that companies already have had mandatory drugs testing for years. However, one should probably not compare detecting what is – still – an illegal activity to either financially rewarding people or forcing them to take a non-compulsory vaccine.
But the real story is why so many people seem to resist the vaccine, including half the prison population in Curaçao. Misinformation and fear of the unknown play a huge role, making continued efforts to promote awareness such as the supplement in Monday’s paper with registration forms in three languages crucial.
