Premier Alden McLaughlin and Chief Medical Officer, Dr John Lee assure that if Cayman’s COVID-19 vaccination rate continues at its current pace, the islands’ borders could reopen as early as late April or early to mid-May.
Speaking at a press briefing on Tuesday, McLaughlin stated that once 70% of the population has received a second dose of the vaccine, Cayman will be open for people to visit without having to endure the 14-day quarantine period.
The Premier con
tinued, “Things are going well. I’m hopeful that this 70% will have received their vaccines in full, perhaps by the end of April or sometime in May. This would mean that Cayman will be one of the few countries in the world that can reopen safely without having to quarantine people.”
In comparison to other countries, Cayman’s vaccination efforts are undoubtedly going very well.
In the last few weeks, the target of vaccinating 90% of the islands’ over-60 population was reached meaning that the process of getting rid of Cayman’s quarantine requirements has officially begun by reducing the quarantine period for visitors from 14 days to 10 days as a result.
In Cayman, 42,115 Pfizer/BioNTech shots given to residents represent 64.8 doses for every 100 people.
To put this statistic into perspective, worldwide, more than 475.5 million COVID vaccine doses have been administered, equivalent to about 6.2 doses for every 100 people.
According to a tally by the New York Times, this clearly puts Cayman into the top five globally. Only Israel, the Seychelles and the United Arab Emirates have higher vaccination rates.
At a local Progressives Party rally on Tuesday, former Councillor to the Ministry of Health, Roy McTaggart indicated it would be sufficient for Cayman to reopen if 75% to 80% of the adult population are fully vaccinated as opposed to the 70% implied by the Premier that included people as young as 16.
This goal is more achievable as it equates to a much smaller population between 38,900 and 41,500 adult residents, providing hope for the community that borders will indeed be able to reopen by late April or sometime in May.