Vaccine verification problem for Boyz game

Sports medicine physician Dr Akshai Mansingh says that vaccine verification could prove an issue that will be under scrutiny as the Jamaica Football Federation’s (JFF) proposal for fans returning to international matches remains under review.

The JFF is in pursuit of approval for a limited number of vaccinated fans to attend the World Cup qualifying game against Canada on October 10, a request that it hopes will balance public safety as well as the potential to earn money from the campaign which has been difficult since the start of the final round.

Jamaica’s first home qualifier against Panama was played on September 5 with no fans in attendance in the midst of strict COVID-19 measures after the spike in cases in August with the positivity rate at 38.7 per cent, when the no-movement days and revised curfew times were announced on August 19.

Mansingh says that while a limited number of fully vaccinated fans could be feasible, one of the major hurdles could be proper verification of a patron’s vaccination status in the absence of a digital database and with the possibility of counterfeit cards being used to deceive organisers.

“We have fake vaccination cards going out there and the vaccination cards that have been issued to us have no form of trace because there is no barcode or any way that it can tie it to a database,” Mansingh told The Gleaner. “The only way you can know for sure that vaccinated people are coming is by cross-check, and that would be a very tedious process because we don’t have the barcoding.”

Jamaica reported a positivity rate of 19.7 per cent on Tuesday, its lowest since the beginning of the third wave of COVID-19 and the implementation of revised curfew times and seven no-movement days which started on August 19. The measures have since been revised to have no-movement days on Sundays with curfew still in place.

Mansingh says that it will still be up to the organisers to ensure that they maintain their agreed safety protocols to ensure that it does not become a source of a wider spread.

“I think it’s positive to allow vaccinated people to go in a limited fashion because it’s in the interest of public of health. But in Jamaica, it is very difficult to verify (vaccinations) because there is no barcoding and we know that there are lots of fake vaccine cards out there,” Mansingh said. “And if we don’t handle this right, you might be looking at another superspreader.”

JFF Vice President Raymond Anderson says that they have not received an approval but they will have a better idea by tomorrow on the outlook of their proposal.

“We are in the process but nothing has been finalised as yet,” he said. “By Saturday, we will have some idea how close we are to getting the approval or disapproval. The details will come in all aspects in terms of how we would approach the vaccinated persons versus how they will be transported to the venue because it is a no-movement day,” Anderson said.

Ministry of Health & Wellness Permanent Secretary Dunstan Bryan confirmed that they received the request made from the JFF and are considering similar details.

daniel.wheeler@gleanerjm.com