It is widely believed that average Jamaicans would be willing to do anything for a US visa, but this apparently does not include taking the COVID-19 vaccine, which is still a mandatory requirement for those applying as immigrants.
One early childhood educator told Freedom Come Rain that while she is aware that refusing to take the vaccine will result in her not getting the visa, she has made peace with this reality. Her visa application process started 10 years ago, and she was looking forward to joining her family in the US, but when she was advised that she would be required to take the COVID vaccine as part of her medical precondition last month, she flatly refused.
“It is like paying to commit suicide. Why would anybody want to do that?” she asked.
The teacher does not like the fact that she is being forced to take a vaccine that has been the basis for several lawsuits globally. Doctors and politicians are still divided in their support of the jab, which is being blamed for a steep rise in sudden deaths worldwide. At least one vaccine maker, AstraZeneca, has also publicly admitted in court that its vaccines can cause rare bloodclotting conditions.
The educator, who asked that her name not be used, said she had visited the Andrews Memorial Hospital (AMH) in June, a few days ahead of her visa interview at the US Embassy. AMH is the only hospital in Jamaica that is authorised to carry out medicals for US Immigration. She said she informed the doctor at the time and then a nurse that she would not be taking the vaccine and was a bit peeved that she subsequently received calls from several persons at the hospital reminding her that she had not submitted the required proof that she took the vaccine. She said she made her stance known verbally and in writing via email, but the hospital had delayed forwarding her documents to the US Embassy so that the immigration process could continue and her documents, including her passport, could be returned to her.
“I am not going to take it for religious purposes. It is my personal conviction,” said the educator, who noted that her interview at the US Embassy went very well, with the only issue being the outstanding medical documents.
“I am just not going to do it, and I feel at peace with my decision,” she insisted.
US immigration law requires that immigrant visa applicants obtain certain vaccinations prior to the issuance of a visa. This includes the COVID-19 vaccine.
Dr. Tanisha Clarke Campbell, who is the medical supervisor for the US Medical Centre at AMH, told Freedom Come Rain that the vaccine would need to be taken once vaccines are available in the country. The AMH is not a vaccine centre, and so persons are instructed to visit a Ministry of Health and Wellness-certified vaccine centre. There are those who have, however, refused to take the vaccine.
“We document vaccine refusal on the document and send the embassy, and the embassy makes contact with the client,” she said.
“Vaccine refusal, when it is documented, is grounds for [visa] refusal,” she said.
She said applicants sometimes ask them to give them time to think their decision through. In these cases, the hospital holds on to the medical; however, it expires within six months.
“If they don’t make a decision, then the medical automatically expires,” she explained.
Persons who refuse to take the vaccine can apply for a waiver, but based on her research, the educator has found that it would need to be done with the help of an immigration lawyer and will cost US$930. Dr. Clarke Campbell said there is a fee for the waiver, but she did not know the amount as it is the embassy that would provide that sort of information to clients.
The educator considers the whole situation unfortunate. She does not understand why the vaccine is a requirement for immigrant visa applicants and not for non-immigrant visa applicants. Pointing to the fact that US President Joe Biden was recently diagnosed with COVID-19, despite being fully vaccinated, she does not understand the reasoning behind making it mandatory. According to media reports, despite being vaccinated and boosted, Biden has contracted COVID-19 three times in the last two years.
The educator has taken note of the fact that several persons, including relatives who have taken the vaccine, have died.
“You know [what] they are going to come with; they had underlying issues, so that’s the reason, but as far as I am concerned, it is because they took the vaccine, and whatever underlying issues they had just increased, and that’s what caused it,” she said.
Portugal has one of the world’s highest vaccination rates against the coronavirus, and almost all its adults are fully vaccinated.Despite this reality,it is the European country registering the most elevated rate of deaths since at least the last week of December. According to EuroMomo (the European site that monitors mortality), Portugal was the country in the European Union that registered the highest levels of mortality during the last week of December and the first two weeks of January.
Freedom Come Rain sought to find out if the US Embassy has any plans to review the mandatory COVID-19 vaccine requirement for immigrant visa applicants, but questions sent to the US Public Affairs Office were unanswered up to press time. This newspaper also sought to find out how many waivers have been granted in the last year or two years. The Public Diplomacy Section responsible for press/media inquiries acknowledged receipt of the questions.
Meanwhile, the educator is hoping her documents will be sent back to her before the summer is up, as she is desirous of travelling to another country to enjoy her break from school.