“Vaccine tourism”: travel packages for Latin Americans are already on offer

“My mother is 80 years old and since we were invited to a wedding in Florida, I took advantage of the trip to get us both vaccinated ”. The story of this Venezuelan who prefers not to give her name is more and more common. Travelers from Latin American countries vaccinated against coronavirus in the United States.

“Everything was very simple. It was enough for us to show the passport and they vaccinated us without getting out of the car in the Miami Hard Rock Stadium“, He said BBC Mundo.

Further north, another 62-year-old Venezuelan citizen has not encountered any major difficulties either. “I signed up on the Massachusetts Department of Health page and a few days later They gave me the vaccine without asking for any documents“. Received from Pfizer in the Hynes Convention Center from the city of Boston.

“My husband insisted that I come and put it on. Actually, its a question of life or death and I don’t know when they will arrive in my country or if they will be treated properly in Venezuela. And here, it was so easy … ”, he compared.

But it’s not just Venezuelans. At Mexico and in Colombia proliferate travel agencies that promote tourist packages whose main objective is access to the vaccine, still far from the reach of the majority in many Latin American countries due to the slowness of its distribution.

According to the Mexican Association of Travel Agencies, there are already around 50 companies that offer packages that include flight to the United States, airport pickup, accommodation and transfer to a drop-in center. vaccination for about one thousand dollars.

At major airports in the southern United States, such as Miami, Orlando, Houston or Los Angeles, vaccine tourism is already a very visible phenomenon.

This is one of the consequences of the advance of vaccination campaign in the United States, or more than 53% of the population has already received at least one dose of the vaccine, only a percentage exceeded Israel Yes UK.

The data contrast with the 6.1% from Colombia, where the authorities were forced to enact new restrictions to contain the spread of the epidemic; the 9.5% from Mexico; or the 1% from Venezuela.

In the context of the region, only exceptional cases such as those of Uruguay O Chile are close to vaccination figures in the United States.

“Latin America is the region that currently has the greatest need for vaccines,” said the director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), Carissa Etienne.

When the growing influx of Latin Americans, including famous people whose vaccines sparked controversy, grabbed the headlines, some states announced measures to ensure that only residents receive the vaccine.

The Governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis, announced that the state would require proof of residency for applicants to an appointment for a vaccine, such as identification.

But that state’s health ministry told BBC Mundo that there are exceptions. Florida being a state with temporary residents, mostly seniors, authorities say they “cannot limit” vaccination people who do not live there all year round, proof of payment for services is sufficient to be vaccinated. This Friday, the state general practitioner, Scott rivkees, issued an instruction recommending that vaccination be extended to all non-Florida residents who “provide goods and services”.

Latin American travelers vaccinated in Florida he consulted BBC Mundo they said that no proof of residence was required. And there have even been local politicians who seem to have seen in the new “vaccine tourism” an opportunity to compensate somewhat for the drop in the number of visitors triggered by the pandemic, as mayor of North Miami Beach, Anthony F. DeFillipo, who He called the strangers to get his vaccine there.

Three days later, the city said in a statement that it was up to the State Department of Health to determine the criteria for receiving it.

Mary jo trepka, an epidemiology expert from the International University of Florida, said BBC Mundo that “in the United States there is an abundant supply of vaccines and the low percentage of doses Latin American travelers take shouldn’t be a problem“.

“In fact, it is in the interests of the United States that the population of our neighboring countries be vaccinated and, from a public health standpoint, the problem is rather to know why not enough vaccines reach these countriesAdds Trepka, who is suing the US president, Joe biden, greater involvement of your country in the program Covax and other vaccination initiatives in less advantaged countries.

The White House announced on April 26 that it would send to struggling countries 60 million doses of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine “As soon as they are available.” He did not specify who will be the favorites.

For Trepka, the downside to vaccine tourism to Latin America is that “exacerbates inequalities in countries of origin“Since those who can travel to the United States are the ones who can pay and have entry permits, de facto removing a large portion of the region’s population from that possibility.

The fact that not everyone can afford it explains the outcry over the known cases of celebrities who have traveled to the United States to be vaccinated, such as the one running for President of Peru. Hernando de Soto, who initially denied receiving the vaccine.

Trepka, however, does not blame the vaccinated tourists. “I think I would do the same for him.”