WILLEMSTAD - Curaçao started vaccinating on Thursday, exactly one week after the first 19,000 Pfizer / BioNTech vaccines arrived from the Netherlands. The first injections have already been given on all other islands. At the official start, politicians and former prime ministers received their injections. Then it is the turn of the 3,400 healthcare employees. Subsequently, the almost 40,000 elderly on the island are eligible and people with a medical risk such as diabetics, people who are overweight and patients with cardiovascular disease.
For two groups in society, it is still the question whether they will also be vaccinated. The first group are people from surrounding countries who have fled to Curaçao and are staying here illegally. The second group consists of the Dutch who spend the winter on Curaçao and often have a second home here. These people bring in a lot of money as retirees, but are not registered in the population register.
The group of foreigners consists of about 17,000 Venezuelans who have fled their country for political or economic reasons and about 13,000 people from surrounding islands, such as Cuba, Haiti and Jamaica. These people have fled poverty in their own country and often work in garden cleaning or construction. In total, this concerns 30,000 people whom the government has no access to.
For their vaccination they can go to the clinic Salu pa Tur, Papiamento for Health for everyone. In principle, the doctors there follow the Public Health Department (GGD) and have first called almost 200 people over the age of 60. The clinic's file only contains 3000 undocumented migrants. The remaining 27,000 are called on via Facebook and other social media to report to be vaccinated.
Whether that will succeed remains to be seen. Most Venezuelans on the island are wary of justice, which relentlessly sends every Venezuelan caught back to their own country. Human rights organizations even suspect Curaçao of returning people who are uncertain of their safety in Venezuela.
It is not all running smoothly yet. The registration line and telephone helpdesk are difficult to reach and, according to several people that have called, employees are not properly instructed. That is extra painful for residents from outside Willemstad. 60 percent of them have no internet access and rely on the phone to make an appointment for vaccination.