Premier Wayne Panton has announced that his government will go ahead with phase 3 of the border-reopening plan tomorrow, 9 Sept., but said that phase 4, when quarantine for securely verified vaccinated people is set to be scrapped, will be re-evaluated nearer the 14 Oct. date.
The government has been aiming to fully vaccinate 80% of the population by 14 Oct. As of 8 Sept., 74%, or 52,433 of Cayman’s estimated population of 71,106, had gotten their first shot. To reach the 80% fully vaccinated target by 14 Oct., 4,452 people would need to get their initial dose tomorrow.
Panton, speaking at a press briefing today, said, “Whether or not we move to phase 4 on 14 Oct. will depend heavily on what we observe over the next few weeks.”
He added, “If we find that the global situation, the scientific evidence or concerns raised by you, the people, make this plan untenable, we may respond accordingly. If we remain confident, we may proceed to the next phase and that may be whether or not the vaccination rate is at 80% at that time.”
He said his government would “not hesitate to put on the brakes, and we will do so unapologetically”, insisting that “this is not about raising the bar or moving the goalposts, it’s about caring about the safety and health of our residents”.
He also stated that the government was not necessarily stuck on the 80% target, saying if Cayman was quite close to that number, it may move forward with its phased reopening approach.
“We are probably not going to...
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