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Published:Thursday | January 21, 2021 | 12:11 AM
Clifton Reader, president of the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association.
Clifton Reader, president of the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association.

Hotels to fund vaccine for staff

Several Jamaican hotels have registered with a partnership with the Government to pay for COVID-19 vaccines for their staff.

The initiative, which is being spearheaded by the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association (JHTA), will not be mandatory for employees, but will offer them ready access to vaccination.

“We are, of course, particularly focused on the thousands of team members in the hospitality and tourism industry, many of whom are breadwinners for their families and pillars of their communities,” said Clifton Reader, president of the JHTA

Jamaica will spend $3 billion to source the coronavirus vaccine for 16 per cent of the population in the first phase. Approximately 300,000 doses are scheduled to arrive on April 21.

Neediest UWI students helped by donors - principal

Pro-vice-chancellor and principal of the Mona Campus of The University of the West Indies (UWI), Dale Webber, has emphasised that its $1 billion channelled annually for scholarships, bursaries, and grants to students across all faculties is sourced “all from internal UWI funds”.

Webber made the assertion on Wednesday a day after disclosing that budgetary pressure caused by COVID-19 had prevented the university from making the traditional gesture. Last December, cash-flow problems caused a days-long delay in the early pre-Christmas payment of staff salaries.

“We have, however, been successful in securing the assistance of donors and partners from the public and private sector to fill the void, so the neediest students are not impacted, especially for continuing students,” he said.

“In a nutshell, fewer new scholarships/bursaries were awarded in this 2020-21 year.”