Statia can offer Johnson & Johnson vaccine
Moderna vaccine expires on September 2nd, 2021.
The Public Entity St. Eustatius can offer the Johnson & Johnson vaccine if at least 100 persons register for this vaccine. The Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sports in the Netherlands (VWS) has indicated that they will send a batch of at least 100 Johnson & Johnson vaccines if sufficient Statians are interested.
Registration for this is possible until July 15, 2021. Compared to the Moderna vaccine, the Johnson & Johnson is a single shot vaccine while Moderna consists of 2 doses. The expiry date of the current stock of Moderna is September 2nd 2021.
As it is not cost effective to send smaller batches of the vaccine, VWS can only guarantee 100 vaccines for now. This means that persons who are interested in getting the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, should register as soon as possible.
Moderna
The second round of vaccinations with the Moderna vaccine is coming to an end. Registration for Moderna is still possible through vaccinationregistration@statiagov.com before the 4th of August, 2021. In this case the first doses can be provided on a Wednesday before the 4th of August, 2021 and the second shot before the expiry date of September 2nd, 2021. If a person prefers to receive the Moderna vaccine, registration must be done soon.
Very high risk countries
Since last Monday, June 15th 2021, a new entry policy applies. The new policy entails the introduction of a list of very high risk countries. This list is already in place for the Netherlands and consists of mainly Asian and South and Central American countries. For Statia, the most relevant countries in this category are the United Kingdom, because of the Delta variant which is spreading there. In addition, the Dominican Republic and Suriname are now considered to be very high risk countries due to the Gamma variant. For those countries, the principle for non-vaccinated persons does not change. If they want to enter Statia, they must go into quarantine for a period of 10 days and should have a valid PCR test before arrival. A rapid antigen test at the end of the quarantine period will be taken.
For vaccinated persons coming from very high risk countries the rules are now stricter. Vaccinated persons coming from these countries must go into full quarantine for a period of 5 days, a valid PCR test is required before arrival on Statia and a rapid antigen test will be taken at the end of the quarantine. The Public Health Department will strictly evaluate the places where persons from very high risk countries go in quarantine to assure that a good separation is achieved.
The Public Health Department will not allow essential workers from very high risk countries to work under a protocol during their quarantine period.
Meanwhile, this risk based approach gives the Public Entity St. Eustatius the ability to go on with its opening process for the countries with a more positive development.
Low risk countries
More countries in Europe, but also countries close to Statia, became low risk countries recently. In most cases there is no direct flight from these low risk countries to Statia. St. Maarten is still a high risk country. Travelling from a low risk country through St. Maarten is a risk because the traveler can be exposed to the COVID-19 virus during the travel. This is the reason that the Public Health Department has set a norm for the transfer from a low risk country to Statia through high risk countries. If a traveler has a stopover of less than 5 hours in a high risk country, he or she is perceived as someone who comes from a low risk country upon entry in Statia. If the stop-over is longer than 5 hours, the traveler will be treated upon entry as if he or she visited a high risk country.
Children
The age limit for children from vaccinated parents who do not need to go into quarantine was lowered to 6 years in the new entry policy. It was concluded that the previous age limit of 12 years was too high as they will have interaction with other children when they are not in quarantine. This is especially the case in the holiday season when schools are closed. The children need to go into quarantine for 5 days upon arrival in Statia.
