KINGSTON, Jamaica — Minister of Tourism, Edmund Bartlett, is expressing satisfaction with the build out of the Montego Bay Convention Centre (MBCC) as a COVID-19 vaccination site.

In a tour of the MBBC on Saturday, the minister highlighted that: “The size of the MBCC has made it possible to outfit the space to accommodate well needed vaccinations. The MBCC is a public body of the Ministry of Tourism, therefore I am pleased that we are able to provide support for the Ministry of Health and Wellness’ drive to get more people vaccinated and help reduce the spread of the disease.”

Bartlett said that some of the individuals who opted to get vaccinated at the MBCC included many tourism workers in and around the area.

“The MBCC is also an ideal location for tourism workers, who are in the heart of tourism activities, to get vaccinated. This is very promising as we are encouraging all tourism workers to make the choice to be vaccinated, to protect themselves, their families and guests,” Bartlett said.

Jamaica began its COVID-19 vaccination programme last month and will receive more vaccines in tranches.

“Jamaica is a very tourism dependent country, and the quicker we are able to get more people vaccinated the quicker we can begin our recovery as confidence in travel will increase. We want our tourism workers to remain safe once the sector begins to boom again, and getting vaccinated is a big step towards that,” the minister added.