North Miami Beach mayor offers free vaccinations to international tourists

The mayor of the city of North Miami Beach, Florida, Anthony F. DeFillipo, He reported that They will offer coronavirus vaccines to international tourists heading to Miami and he assured that he had already struck up a conversation with some consulates.

The city, which organized a day this Sunday to place 700 Pfizer vaccines, will open the doors to non-resident foreigners. As stated in an interview on Facebook, from his mayor’s office they have communicated so far with the consulates of Peru, Colombia and Honduras, to inform their citizens that in North Miami Beach, they can Get a free Pfizer vaccine.

DeFillipo, the former mayor of Rionegro in Colombia, was reassured and argued that the move will not make North Miami Beach residents run out of vaccines. “This is what we did and we had thousands and thousands of people come through our door,” he said.

In the same interview, he also explained that those who come just to be vaccinated will not have their tourist visas withdrawn. And he clarified: “The tourists They only need your passport and the address of the hotel or consulate to be vaccinated“.

As LA NACION reported a few days ago, with 40% of the statewide population vaccinated with at least one dose, the wide availability of vaccines makes the requirements to obtain it more and more flexible. However, on paper, the public health advisory that prioritizes vaccinations for residents of the state of Florida has been in effect since Jan.21.

According to Florida regulations, those without state identification can show two proofs of residency, such as a title deed or rental agreement; a public service at least two months old; a letter from a financial institution or federal government agency; or a letter from a parent, child or legal guardian indicating that the person lives with you. A little over a month ago, a single proof of residence was sufficient. Experience shows that more and more tourists manage to get vaccinated for free without any proof.

The Honduran consulate thanked the mayor after the announcement. And he expressed in his official Twitter account: “A great gesture of humanity.” In addition, they shared details that Honduran citizens need to be able to get vaccinated in North Miami Beach. “You just need to show your consular registration or valid passport,” they detailed.

Vaccination of foreigners from countries such as Honduras, Peru and Colombia began in early April.

In the heat of the regrowth, the overabundance of vaccines in the United States is generating anger around the world. Around the middle of the year, the surplus of the North American country could reach 300 million doses, As a result, calls are growing for a broad reformulation of the patent and intellectual property laws that govern the manufacture of vaccines.

Biden recently left open the possibility of direct vaccine donations to other countries, but did not outline a timeline or reference a strategy for sharing the surplus the United States has, which by the middle of this year it could reach 300 million doses or more, according to estimates by researchers at the Center for Innovation in Global Health at Duke University.

THE NATION

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