KINGSTON, Jamaica — Minister of Finance and Public Service, Dr Nigel Clarke says a Conditional Cash Transfer for the Vaccinated (CCTV) programme will be open to all citizens over the age of 60 who have been vaccinated through the Ministry of Health and Wellness.

This is despite initial announcements that the CCTV Grant would only be available to senior citizens with an income of $1.5 million or less per annum.

Senior citizens are welcome to apply for the CCTV Grant starting July 15.

The programme is in line with previous announcements by the Government to provide an incentive for people 60 and over to become fully vaccinated. It will see an incentive of $10,000 being paid to people 60 and over who have been fully vaccinated.

As of June 5,159,615 Jamaicans have received the first shot of the vaccine but only 7,052 of that number are fully vaccinated senior citizens.

Speaking in Parliament today, the minister said the programme will be administered digitally, using the COVID-19 Allocation of Resources for Employees (CARE) programme platform. 

He said to apply, people aged 60 and over will need to log onto the wecare platform at www.wecare.gov.jm and provide along with their first and last names, their TRN and/or their government issued identification; date of birth; mobile telephone number (to which they have access); email address; and vaccination type and batch numbers.

Dr Clarke said the preferred method of payment is through the individual’s active commercial bank account or a remittance agency. 

The minister said on application, individuals will be assigned a unique reference number which will be used to track the progress of their application, respond to any queries from applicants and for those applicants selecting a remittance company to collect the grant once all validation is completed.

All applicants will be communicated with primarily through SMS text messages and/or email and will be advised once their application has been validated and approved, Dr Clarke said.

He noted that for applicants who are physically unable to get to the remittance company, third party collection will be accommodated but the third party must have in their possession at the time of collection; a signed letter of authorisation stamped by a Justice of the Peace; the valid government issued identification of the applicant; and their valid government identification.