Miami-Dade County partners with hotels to inoculate workers, boost access to vaccines

A group of five young women, all of whom work as housekeepers at the Conrad Miami hotel in Brickell, nervously crowded around the sign-up table of a pop-up vaccine site on Wednesday in the parking garage adjacent to the JW Marriott Miami. A few said they hadn’t yet gotten the vaccine because they fear the side effects; others because they simply haven’t made time; one felt too anxious to get the shot and left.

But some decided to take a few minutes from their lunch break to vaccinate themselves against COVID-19 at the JW Marriott Miami’s one-day event, in partnership with Miami-Dade County, to encourage hotel workers to get inoculated. It was the first of several planned drives by Miami-Dade and hotel managers — as county officials find new ways to address inequities in vaccine access.

“That’s something that’s been in the works, at least for me, for a while. .. I’m just very excited that we got to this point and that we are able to provide this to everyone in our community and our associates,” said Mildred Riscigno, the general manager at JW Marriott Miami. On Wednesday around noon, she added rhat about 20 people from hotels in the area had shown up to the site, which was open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Charles Cyrille, the division director for the Office of Emergency Management at the county, said officials have discussed launching other events in hotels to vaccinate employees and their families for more than a month, but it wasn’t until recently when the county came into more vaccine supply, that they started contacting people and scheduling events with hotel staff.

The county also started receiving Jackson’s vaccine supply when the hospital ended their vaccination program — increasing their weekly portion from 3,000 to around 12,000, a roughly 300% jump.

The new partnership comes a few weeks after the Herald published a story revealing that Haitian and Central American neighborhoods in Miami-Dade were disproportionately undervaccinated, with experts calling on the county to bring vaccines directly to its residents. Wendi Walsh, treasurer and president of the labor union Unite Here Local 355, which represents 7,000 hospitality and airport workers in South Florida, said at the time that 60% of their members were still out of work as a result of the pandemic. About 40% of them identify as Haitian or Haitian American.

Rachel Johnson, the communications director for the mayor’s office, told the Herald the county has also reached out to other hotels in the areas where events have already been scheduled — like the Fontainebleau — so that those hotels’ employees and families can also attend the events. Cyrille, who has been heading the organizing for the vaccine pop-ups, said the county has partnered and set tentative dates with the Eden Rock in Miami Beach, Trump International Beach Resort and the Miami Airport Marriott.

Ana Hernández, one of the housekeepers at the Conrad, said she initially had doubts about getting a vaccine, but she has family members in the Dominican Republic who have already gotten it.

“I just haven’t made the time. I was going to go somewhere else but when they said they were doing it here, I just waited,” said Hernández, 35.

Others said they were the first in their family to get the shot.

“I really just think of this like, well, if I feel bad one day after getting it, it’s going to be better than having COVID for two weeks, feeling ill for two weeks or infecting someone you love,” said Cristina, 26, who did not give her last name.

“In my house, there’s this uncertainty, because there’s some who don’t want to get it... Let’s see what happens when I tell them I got it. Maybe that will inspire them,” she added. “Or they’ll kick me out of the house for a while.”

Mary Jo Trepka, an infectious disease epidemiologist and professor at FIU, recently told the Herald that the best way to get people vaccinated is to take it straight to them, especially at their workplaces.

Trepka, who heard about the new hotel program last week through a weekly call she joins with other county officials, told the Herald that it’s an extremely vital effort. But she noted that it would take time to see the results, since it’s a labor-intensive outreach.

“I do think it’s really important to get those people [vaccinated] that work multiple jobs and don’t have time off,” she said.

Miami-Dade also has conducted vaccination events at the airport, Dolphin and Aventura malls, in addition to a week-long event at the Port — which the state ultimately took over — in an effort to vaccinate employees and their families directly at their place of work.

Shanta Seojatan, left, who works for American Airlines, gets her Pfizer vaccine at the pop-up vaccination site in Concourse D in the 4th floor auditorium at Miami International Airport on May 9, 2021. The vaccines will be available to airport employees, their family and friends, and travelers living or working in Florida from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. through May 14, then June 1 through 4, and June 7, according to airport officials. There will be two locations at MIA: Concourse D in the 4th floor auditorium; and a drive through at 75 Bus Road in Miami (MIA taxi overflow lot).

Johnson noted that the county is also trying to coordinate pop-up events at agricultural businesses.

“The other problem for workers is that some people do get side effects from the vaccine, and that may require them to take the day off to recover. I think employers should give employees that day because it’s going to give them an employee that’s going to be a much more effective employee if they’re vaccinated. They’re not going to get sick and they’re not going to expose other employees or their customers,” added Trepka.

Riscigno, the JW Marriott Miami’s general manager, said the hotel has given their employees about four hours of paid sick time as an incentive to get the vaccine. It’s a move other Miami hotels have started to emulate.

“I think it’s a personal choice but we, obviously, encourage it by doing this event,” Riscigno added. “I just want to have it available for my associates here and everyone in the community that would like to get vaccinated.”