SEVERAL popular promoters are lauding the Government’s recent announcement that there will be a forthcoming calendar of events for vaccinated Jamaicans.

Promoter of Boom Sundays Marlon “Boom Boom” Wizard says it was high time the ball got rolling with regards to the reopening of the industry.

“Mi prefer we have something going more than nothing at all going. Mi fully vaccinated from long time. If me never vaccinated, me couldn’t a tour the world and whole heap a people vaccinated, so this can work,” he told the Jamaica Observer.

Minister of Health and Welness Dr Christopher Tufton made the announcement about the impending “calendar of events” last Wednesday addressing the official opening of the new field hospital at the Savanna-la-Mar Public Hospital in Westmoreland.

Wizard, who has repeatedly said he’s able to survive due to international and social media gigs, added that entertainment players have suffered the most since the onslaught of the coronavirus pandemic since March 2020.

“Once you have curfew, and lock down school, and lock down church and everything, dancehall did haffi get lock down too. The thing is, dancehall ah the first thing lock down and it a go be the last thing fi open back so it hard pon the people dem,” the promoter/sound system operator, who is gearing up to tour Canada, England and the United States, continued.

Meanwhile, principal of Stone Love sound system Winston “Wee Pow” Powell also welcomed the news. He said he has been hanging on by a thread, financially.

“I’m just here, eating out my savings to survive. I have had some little gatherings here and there in keeping with the protocols, but those are nothing. I’m vaccinated and I’m just here waiting on them to say something because I have no other source of income. Just my savings,” he told the Observer.

Come next month, the entertainment industry will mark its two-year suspension milestone. There were brief, policed breaks in between. However, several measures and conditions were applied to these events.

The Uptown Mondays boss Whitfield “Whitty” Henry believes he has been on the side of luck since he has had a relatively sustainable source of income.

“Luckily, I own the property (Savannah Plaza where Uptown Mondays is held) that’s how I’m able to survive. Some of my colleagues had to sell their sound and buy taxis,” he said.

Henry, who is also fully vaccinated, says he remains in wait-and-see mode, as entertainment is his bread and butter.

“I’d love to see that [phased] reopening. Music [is] the only thing I know. I put all my eggs in one basket from KC [Kingston College] days. I don’t have any other source,” he said.

Jamaica is currently experiencing the tail end of the fourth wave of the virus. As of yesterday, the island recorded 125, 993 cases with 2,694 fatalities. Approximately 1.32 million natives have taken at least one dose of a COVID-19 jab, with 628,000 being fully vaccinated.