How, When and Where will Crewmembers be Vaccinated in time for June cruises?

[TeeRick]

Royal Caribbean and Celebrity are offering cruises out of St Maarten, Bahamas and Greece early this summer.  All passengers 18+ must be fully vaccinated by two weeks before boarding a ship.  And all Q&A and information on these cruises state "fully vaccinated crew".  So how, when and where will that take place?  Presumably to meet the timelines- they need to start soon.  Cruise lines have opened booking and are taking deposits.  They must have plans to quickly vaccinate crew.

 

I am not looking for speculation.  I am looking for facts and verifiable information from the RCG corporation, Travel Agents, or official sources.  It would be great if any crew members who read these boards could give us information on what is happening with them vaccine-wise in order to get cruising started by June. 

Edited March 27, 2021 by TeeRick

[paulh84]

21 minutes ago, TeeRick said:

Royal Caribbean and Celebrity are offering cruises out of St Maartin, Bahamas and Greece early this summer.  All passengers 18+ must be fully vaccinated by two weeks before boarding a ship.  And all Q&A and information on these cruises state "fully vaccinated crew".  So how, when and where will that take place?  Presumably to meet the timelines- they need to start soon.  Cruise lines have opened booking and are taking deposits.  They must have plans to quickly vaccinate crew.

 

I am not looking for speculation.  I am looking for facts and verifiable information from the RCG corporation, Travel Agents, or official sources.  It would be great if any crew members who read these boards could give us information on what is happening with them vaccine-wise in order to get cruising started by June. 

 

This guy probably offers the best insight. I'm actually surprised he shares as much as he does. The vaccine element may be kept under wraps since public perception may not be flattering if Grandma can't get a vaccine but the casino host can.

 

Also watch Capt Kate. She posts a ton but she has never discussed a restart in any detail. However she just left Edge for a 3 month vacation (queue the speculation...). 

 

 

Edited March 27, 2021 by paulh84

[TeeRick]

One concern beyond Grandma vs the casino.

 

Will the crew be fully vaccinated by vaccines approved in the US, UK, EU?  Or will the cruise lines use vaccines from Russia and China which are not (yet) approved in the western countries ?  Or some combination?  

[TeeRick]

2 hours ago, paulh84 said:

 

This guy probably offers the best insight. I'm actually surprised he shares as much as he does. The vaccine element may be kept under wraps since public perception may not be flattering if Grandma can't get a vaccine but the casino host can.

 

Also watch Capt Kate. She posts a ton but she has never discussed a restart in any detail. However she just left Edge for a 3 month vacation (queue the speculation...). 

 

 

Thanks paulh84 much appreciated.  Everybody who has signed up for the Millennium, Adventure, Legend or APEX announced cruises should go to 5:20 on this video and listen to him talk about crew vaccinations needed in time for these cruises.  There is no announced plan to us or to the crew.  What he speaks about as a potential scenario, having the crew pulling up to a port and getting vaccinated and getting back on, is OK if they use the 1-shot J&J vaccine and then wait 28 days before taking on passengers.  It is concerning that the cruises are announced and booking with no clear announced plan to vaccinate the crew- including waiting period post vaccine.  

[Fouremco]

15 minutes ago, TeeRick said:

One concern beyond Grandma vs the casino.

 

Will the crew be fully vaccinated by vaccines approved in the US, UK, EU?  Or will the cruise lines use vaccines from Russia and China which are not (yet) approved in the western countries ?  Or some combination?  

Interesting question, but one could ask the same thing about passengers. Will Celebrity only accept their vaccinations if they are approved by the US, UK, EU? 

[TeeRick]

Just now, Fouremco said:

Interesting question, but one could ask the same thing about passengers. Will Celebrity only accept their vaccinations if they are approved by the US, UK, EU? 

I would say it depends.  I personally would want a fully vaccinated ship to mean vaccinated with approved, accepted vaccines.  OK I know that the Russian vaccine Sputnik V is similar to the J&J vaccine technology (but two doses).  With high efficacy.   And they have at least published their clinical results in a respectable journal Lancet.  But they have very limited manufacturing capacity to date.  It would be hard to imagine them giving doses out to cruise lines beyond their citizens being vaccinated.  The Chinese COVID vaccines from Sinovac and Sinopharm have had very limited data released and it has not been that good to date.  

[PTC DAWG]

In my state, anyone 16 years and older is eligible, appointments appear to be easy to get...that tells me there is plenty of the vaccine around...I see no issues getting the crew vaccinated...

[ace2542]

2 hours ago, TeeRick said:

One concern beyond Grandma vs the casino.

 

Will the crew be fully vaccinated by vaccines approved in the US, UK, EU?  Or will the cruise lines use vaccines from Russia and China which are not (yet) approved in the western countries ?  Or some combination?  

If they want full vaccination and if they could somehow choose the vaccine to use? Would they not select the single shot Johnson vaccine and get it that done way as opposed to messing around with 2 shot doses over different time periods?. But if they can procure that supply or any supply on a corporate level or private level is another question entirely isn't it?

[ace2542]

1 hour ago, PTC DAWG said:

In my state, anyone 16 years and older is eligible, appointments appear to be easy to get...that tells me there is plenty of the vaccine around...I see no issues getting the crew vaccinated...

Apart from the fact they are being brought into the country from overseas?

[TeeRick]

1 hour ago, PTC DAWG said:

In my state, anyone 16 years and older is eligible, appointments appear to be easy to get...that tells me there is plenty of the vaccine around...I see no issues getting the crew vaccinated...

That is nice for you and your state.  In my state and many other states it is a real struggle to find vaccines even for the phase 1 groups. Not enough vaccine.   It is getting marginally better.  No doubt.  But why would any US state (maybe except FL) give vaccines dedicated to their US citizens away to cruise lines and foreign crew members?  That would be not a positive thing for those in the states waiting to be vaccinated.  Maybe much later in the year when there is excess vaccine and the lines have disappeared.  But not by May.

[ECCruise]

3 minutes ago, TeeRick said:

That is nice for you and your state.  In my state and many other states it is a real struggle to find vaccines even for the phase 1 groups. Not enough vaccine.   It is getting marginally better.  No doubt.  But why would any US state (maybe except FL) give vaccines dedicated to their US citizens away to cruise lines and foreign crew members?  That would be not a positive thing for those in the states waiting to be vaccinated.  Maybe much later in the year when there is excess vaccine and the lines have disappeared.  But not by May.

That largely has to do with the level of anti-vaxxers in a state, and then, in a county or parish.

In our county here in NC, there still is a  backup, even for those 65+.  Yet, a few counties over, they have been vaccinating everyone 16+ for at least 10 days.  Same with the next state to the west, an hour or so away where people from here are travelling for quick, next day appointments.

 

Guess which of the counties nd states are heavily populated with anti-vaxxers.

[4774Papa]

59 minutes ago, TeeRick said:

That is nice for you and your state.  In my state and many other states it is a real struggle to find vaccines even for the phase 1 groups. Not enough vaccine.   It is getting marginally better.  No doubt.  But why would any US state (maybe except FL) give vaccines dedicated to their US citizens away to cruise lines and foreign crew members?  That would be not a positive thing for those in the states waiting to be vaccinated.  Maybe much later in the year when there is excess vaccine and the lines have disappeared.  But not by May.

TeeRick,

I see that PA has administered over 5.6 million doses, but still is only in stage 1a.   When will it shift to the next stage?    71.8% of people over 65 nationwide have at least one dose.

 

My Son lives in Philly and I will be visiting him in May.

[Ken the cruiser]

I just had to post the latest "Flattening the Curve" link as it's not too often I see my state as the only one in the green. But from this chart it definitely looks like there has been an uptick in new infections.

 

Have we flattened the curve in the US? - Johns Hopkins (jhu.edu)

[kearney]

Won't the crew need to prepare ships that have been sitting around for a year with only basic cleaning and maintenance.... need to get there early? Also, many will likely need to be retrained on new procedures... so if you flew crews into Florida.... get them the J&J vaccine and then send them to their ships to spend two weeks or whatever the min time is... to get the ships ready and get them retrained. I suspect the Governor of Florida would find vaccines needed. Remember by May 1 they plan on opening up vaccinations to everyone (over 16 or 18). GA has already opened it up to anyone who wants it. Once vaccinated ship them off to their new home ports.

[jalves]

5 hours ago, TeeRick said:

One concern beyond Grandma vs the casino.

 

Will the crew be fully vaccinated by vaccines approved in the US, UK, EU?  Or will the cruise lines use vaccines from Russia and China which are not (yet) approved in the western countries ?  Or some combination?  

I would guess some combination.  Just because a vaccine hasn't yet been approved by the US, UK or EU doesn't mean its not effective.  It just might not have yet gone through the testing requirements for those entities.  

[wrk2cruise]

Since the vaccine supply is being paid for by the federal government is it legal for any of these doses be provided to non US residents?

[LGW59]

3 minutes ago, wrk2cruise said:

Since the vaccine supply is being paid for by the federal government is it legal for any of these doses be provided to non US residents?

Each state sets their own distribution policy

Edited March 27, 2021 by LGW59

[wrk2cruise]

I know but that's not what I asked.  In our state the HHS Secretary has stated many times they weren't allowed to restrict residents of other states from coming to ours as the vaccine is being provided by the federal government.  To me that would make it for US residents (taxpayers) only.   That is my opinion, I was asking if it would even be legal to use US supply to vaccinate crew.

[LGW59]

6 minutes ago, wrk2cruise said:

I know but that's not what I asked.  In our state the HHS Secretary has stated many times they weren't allowed to restrict residents of other states from coming to ours as the vaccine is being provided by the federal government.  To me that would make it for US residents (taxpayers) only.   That is my opinion, I was asking if it would even be legal to use US supply to vaccinate crew.

Ahhhh, OK, very easy 4 second Google search: 

 

https://www.dhs.gov/news/2021/02/01/dhs-statement-equal-access-covid-19-vaccines-and-vaccine-distribution-sites

[Fouremco]

4 minutes ago, wrk2cruise said:

Since the vaccine supply is being paid for by the federal government is it legal for any of these doses be provided to non US residents?

As Florida and a number of other States provided vaccinations to some Canadian Snowbirds this year, that appears not to be an issue if the vaccination takes place within the US. While there might be other complications getting crew members into PE or POM, once there it would seem they could be vaccinated.

 

There was some concern recently about the US sending vaccines to Mexico and Canada, but by making them "loans", the Administration was able to avoid legal complications. Some have suggested that Florida (for example) could give Celebrity vaccine to be used for crew members offshore. That might run into legal problems.

[LGW59]

3 minutes ago, Fouremco said:

As Florida and a number of other States provided vaccinations to some Canadian Snowbirds this year, that appears not to be an issue if the vaccination takes place within the US. While there might be other complications getting crew members into PE or POM, once there it would seem they could be vaccinated.

 

There was some concern recently about the US sending vaccines to Mexico and Canada, but by making them "loans", the Administration was able to avoid legal complications. Some have suggested that Florida (for example) could give Celebrity vaccine to be used for crew members offshore. That might run into legal problems.

No legal problems what-so-ever, anyone in the US, documented or not, can get the vaccine.

[Ken the cruiser]

2 minutes ago, LGW59 said:

No legal problems what-so-ever, anyone in the US, documented or not, can get the vaccine.

I wonder if that means US waters as well??

[jelayne]

Your don’t need to be a US taxpayer in order to get the vaccine in the US. As @Fouremco pointed out Canadian Snowbirds are getting vaccinated in the US as are many other  non-citizens. 

[LGW59]

Just now, Ken the cruiser said:

I wonder if that means US waters as well??

Not sure what you mean "US waters as well"?

[Ken the cruiser]

1 minute ago, LGW59 said:

Not sure what you mean "US waters as well"?

If there is a cruise ship in port (in US waters), is it OK for those crew members onboard that are allowed to go ashore, can they get a COVID shot?