VAZ VISA ROW Vaccine mandate shows results
Jamaican Gleaner. Vaz has persistently
and vehemently denied such links and
many including PM Holness and former
American Ambassador Donald Tapia are
standing behind Vaz.
Vaz has not been locally known to be
involved in the drug trade so the visa
cancellation sparked national debate
about whether the embassy and state
were acting on credible information or
had been the victim of inaccurate information
fed to them. Former Jamaican
Prime Minister Bruce Golding even
thinks that Washington has been “weaponizing”
visa issuance when it suits its
national interests, albeit unfairly.
Doubts about the entire episode
began to emerge in recent months
when former American Ambassador to
Jamaica, Donald Tapia made it clear
that the US was wrong to pull Vaz’s visa
as there was no evidence linking him to
the drug trade or the local underworld.
He even thinks that the waiver inserted
in his passport is there through vindictiveness
to cover up a major mistake at
the embassy. Tapia, together with Holness,
mounted a special, secret probe
into Vaz’s background relating to the
drug trade and underworld. Both came
to the conclusion that the minister
was clean. Ironically, Vaz was forced to
give up his American citizenship more
than a decade ago to comply with local
electoral and parliamentary eligibility
Caribbean L 12 ife, OCTOBER 1-7, 2021
rules.
“After the agencies provided their
findings to the prime minister, it was
found that the allegations were not factual,”
Tapia said noting, that the probe
conducted by American officials “found
that all reports were hearsay allegations
with no substance or evidence.”
To add to a string of strange developments
in recent days, Vaz has been
named to lead a government delegation
to a science conference in the US next
month. The US government will fund
the trip entirely. The rival Observer
newspaper reported Wednesday that
Vaz has also been surprisingly issued
with an upgraded new five-year diplomatic
visa apparently to give him comfort
on the trip. Ambassador Tapia had
written to nearly 50 senators complaining
about Vaz’s case and urging them to
act to right a wrong.
Continued from Page 1
increased to 92 percent as of Monday
evening, up from 71 percent on Aug.
24 and 82 percent on Sept. 20.
The percentage of adult care
facilities staff receiving at least one
COVID-19 vaccine dose increased to
89 percent as of Monday evening, up
from 77 percent on Aug. 24 and 85
percent on Sept. 20.
The percentage of hospital staff
receiving at least one dose is 92 percent
as of Monday evening based on
preliminary self-reported data.
The percentage of fully vaccinated
is 85 percent as of Monday evening,
up from 84 percent on Sept. 22 and
77 percent on Aug. 24.
The State Department of Health
said it conducted a one-time Health
Electronic Response Data System
(HERDS) survey of hospitals, nursing
homes and adult care facilities on
Sept. 27, 2021 to determine the vaccination
status of workers in health
care settings.
Hochul said this is being used to
supplement the survey data informing
our COVID-19 Vaccine Tracker
Long Term Care Vaccinations webpage,
which is updated daily with
information self-reported by Skilled
Nursing Facilities and Adult Care
Facilities and Vaccine Tracker Hospital
Worker Vaccination webpage,
which is updated weekly with information
self-reported by individual
hospitals.
On Monday night, Hochul signed
an Executive Order to significantly
expand the eligible workforce and
allow additional health care workers
to administer COVID-19 testing and
vaccinations.
In addition, she directed a 24/7
Operations Center, led by the New
York State Department of Health, to
constantly monitor staffing operations
and trends statewide, provide
guidance to health care facilities and
help troubleshoot acute situations
with providers as necessary.
“The governor continues to engage
in ongoing outreach with local elected
officials, hospitals, labor leaders,
and other health care organizations
to check-in on staffing status and
offer State assistance,” the statement
said.
According to the regulation issued
by the State Department of Health,
all health care workers in New York
State, at hospitals and nursing homes,
are to be vaccinated against COVID-
19 with the first dose received by
Monday, Sept. 27, and staff at other
covered entities including home care,
hospice, and adult care facilities are
to be vaccinated by Oct. 7.
The regulation also applies to all
out of state and contract medical staff
who practice in New York State.
Continued from Page 1
Jamaica’s Minister of Science, Energy
and Technology, Daryl Vaz. opm.
gov.jm
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