Bring vaccines to seafarers
For many of us in the U.S., receiving the COVID-19 vaccine is as simple as walking into a local pharmacy. However, getting vaccinated isn’t so easy for those who live and work on the sea. After all, how can seafarers access vaccines if they cannot leave their ship or port? That’s an issue the Mission to Seafarers (MtS) set out to solve.
In early spring 2021, as the COVID-19 vaccine became available in the U.S., MTS, an organization dedicated to supporting and sustaining mariners, soon recognized the logistical challenges of providing vaccines for crew members at sea.
To overcome these obstacles, the Director of Strategic Operations for the NW Seaport Alliance contacted the Executive Director at the Seattle Seafarers’ Center and Discovery Health, a maritime medical care clinic. Together, they devised a way to begin delivering vaccines to seafarers at the Port of Seattle, Washington.
In May, they put the plan into action, making Seattle the first port on the West Coast to initiate onboard vaccinations. The Port of Oakland quickly followed suit, and vaccination efforts spread to the East Coast as well, where, for example, the Baltimore International Seafarers’ Center began offering shipboard vaccinations at the Port of Baltimore.
Up north, Canada is working toward vaccinating seafarers, too, but is facing its own set of challenges. For instance, instead of the convenience of providing port clinics or onboard vaccinations, they are transporting seafarers to local vaccination centers due to the design of their public health system. Also, the country is currently only permitting the first vaccine for non-Canadian residents, further complicating the vaccination process.
Although it is a slow and sometimes challenging process, seafarer vaccination rates are continuing to rise. As of September, an estimated 22% of global seafarers are vaccinated, which is up 7% from the previous month. In the Puget Sound alone, 2,925 merchant seafarers and 1,061 cruise ship crew members were vaccinated as of September 20. What’s more, the Seattle-area MTS initiative continues to receive 50 to 200 vaccination requests a week, steadily increasing the total number of protected seafarers.
Here at Falvey Cargo, we are an official supporter of MTS. Their vaccination effort has helped make life safer at sea and port. But the vaccination initiative has also provided seafarers with the opportunity to safely leave port, enter their own countries, and visit their loved ones with shorter quarantine periods and a stronger peace of mind when it comes to their health and safety.
This article is shared by courtesy of The mission to seafarers. The Mission launches Sustaining Crew Welfare campaign to maintain and adapt services
