PHILIPSBURG—Undocumented persons who have travelled recently and wish to be vaccinated against COVID-19 may be flagged and will, in that case, need to provide proof that they have lived on the island for six months or longer. By implementing this requirement, authorities hope to close a loophole and stem the abuse of free vaccinations by “vaccine tourists”.
Confusion and discussion arose on social media recently about the eligibility of so-called “snowbirds”, as these groups would try to receive the COVID-19 vaccine in St Maarten while they are not eligible.
The vaccination registration system as it currently is asks for any form of identification, not necessarily a St. Maarten ID. This was purposely done to include undocumented persons residing on the island.
“Documented or not, these persons live in St. Maarten and can thus also contract and spread the COVID-19 virus. The group is also a substantial part of our total population, so this group must be included if we aim to reach herd immunity,” the Vaccine Management Team (VMT) pointed out in a press release on Tuesday.
To encourage undocumented persons to register and take the vaccine, the Ministry of Public Health, Social Development and Labor VSA emphasised that there will be no immigration checks and that a person’s data will be deleted after they receive their first dose.
However, the vaccines are not meant for tourists and so-called “snowbirds” (those who fly into St. Maarten to get the vaccine or those who only live here for short periods every year). Therefore, the VSA Ministry and the VMT have worked on a procedure to filter out these groups from the registration list, without discouraging or burdening all eligible persons with extra hurdles.
All registrations will be scanned and those who might not be eligible will be flagged. However, this does not mean that they will not be able to receive the vaccine. When flagged, they will need to provide proof that they have lived on the island for six months or longer. This can be a rental agreement, a utility bill from utilities company GEBE, a letter from their employer or entry stamp in their passport. Only after providing one of these documents will a person be scheduled for their vaccination appointment.
“The VMT would once more like to emphasise that no immigration checks will be carried out based on these documents. It is in everyone’s best interest if everybody who lives in St. Maarten receives the vaccine,” said the release.
By implementing this procedure, the VMT said it will filter out those who are not eligible as much as possible, to ensure that the vaccines will go to the intended persons, without adding hurdles for all eligible persons in St. Maarten. This procedure should also discourage tourists from trying to receive the COVID-19 vaccine in St. Maarten.
