A beach is normally a place for uninhibited relaxation.
But the one we are talking about wears a different look these days. Dozens of people are seen queuing up across the sand, braving the blazing sun.
And what are they waiting for?
The COVID-19 vaccine!
Travellers, mostly from Latin America, have been frequenting a makeshift coronavirus vaccination booth at Miami beach, Florida.
All that the visitors need to do to get a free, single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine and a vaccination card is check into an online system; no proof of residence is required.
According to AFP, there are visitors from nations like Argentina, Mexico, Ecuador, El Salvador, Venezuela — where rollout of the vaccine has been slow and hampered by shortage in supply.
“In my country, COVID-19 is getting out of hand and there’s not much chance we’ll have access to the vaccine soon,” AFP quoted Maria Bonilla, who arrived from Honduras, as saying.
The 40-year-old accountant and her parents wore masks as they waited for the jab. “We had to make the decision to look for a solution outside the country,” Bonilla added.
Fifty-year-old Mexican Blanca Diaz had the a similar explanation.
“They are just starting to vaccinate older people,” she said of the current status in Mexico.
Not all ‘vaccine tourists’ can, however, afford to make the trip to Miami as airfares have surged. In some cases, the price of an air ticket has doubled in recent weeks.
