New York Times
“Like a dream”: Latin Americans head to the United States for COVID shots
Rio de Janeiro-Buenos Aires photographer Florencia Gonzales Alzaga hatched plans to fly to the United States for the coronavirus vaccine after the subject appeared in her zoom book club. Colombian Instagram influencer Juan Pablo Bohaka, who specializes in modest travel, has posted a step-by-step video guide showing 137,000 followers to try and clear passport control in Miami. did. Paraguayan real estate agent Jose Acevedo was amazed at how easy everything was in Las Vegas. Sign up for The Morning Newsletter from The New York Times. The pace of home vaccination campaigns has slowed, and tens of millions of Americans are dissatisfied with the overdose in the United States, which has chosen not to be vaccinated. Wealthy and middle class. Latin Americans with American tourist visas have been flocking to the United States for the past few weeks to win COVID-19 shots. “It’s like a dream,” said Gonzales, who took her shot in Miami in April. This access proved to be a huge success for privileged people in countries where the virus continues to suffer brutal damage. Many, including those who are benefiting, suffer from the fact that vaccine tourism exacerbates the inequality that exacerbates the pandemic. Sean Simons, a spokesman for the ONE campaign working to eradicate illness and poverty, said vaccine travel could have serious unintended consequences, instead a World Health Organization vaccine known as COVAX. Through the distribution system, they were encouraged to pour them into countries with surplus vaccines. “Millionaires and millionaires who travel across continents and seas to vaccinate are usually twice exposed, likely to spread variants, meaning that only the most elite can access them. “I will.” The Biden administration announced this month that it will vaccinate countries struggling to vaccinate its people 80 million times by the end of June. Still, some of the success stories of Latin Americans getting jabs are shared on social media posts and reviews, and local authorities in New York and Alaska are actively encouraging vaccination tourism. Airfares on the route are skyrocketing as thousands of people earn and are heading north. Travel agencies in the region have begun selling vaccination packages that include multilateral itineraries for Brazilians. Brazilians must spend two weeks in a third country before being admitted to the United States. Jose Carlos Brunetti, vice president of Maral Turismo, a travel agency in Asuncion, the capital of Paraguay, said these trips were a godsend to his industry after a tragic year. “The enthusiasm for traveling to the United States to get vaccinated began in March,” he said. “Currently, the number of passengers and flights is increasing exponentially.” Generally, foreigners entering the country with a tourist visa are allowed to seek medical care in the United States. The State Department is conducting a background check on foreigners applying for visas, but authorities have not screened those who are explicitly visiting to obtain a visa, and for foreigners who come to the United States for that purpose. There doesn’t seem to be any federal guidance. .. Upon arrival in the United States, it is up to the state, community, and individual healthcare provider to decide whether to vaccinate without proof of residence in the United States, officials said. Prominent Latin American politicians are among those who flew to the United States for shots. Cesar Acuña has promised to be the “last” candidate in his country as a Peruvian presidential candidate earlier this year. But after losing the poll, he said it didn’t make sense to keep that promise. “Remember I’m 68. I’m a vulnerable person,” he said in a radio interview. Former Argentine President Mauricio Macri vowed in February that “the last Argentina in the high-risk group and all essential workers will not be vaccinated until they are vaccinated.” Despite imposing a series of rigorous quarantine measures since last year, experts believe that Argentina is partly facilitated by the highly contagious subspecies first detected in Brazil. Faced with a trend. Despite his vow to wait for vaccination, Marci wrote in a Facebook post this month: “Johnson & Johnson’s one-off in Miami after noticing that the vaccine is being applied everywhere, from beaches to malls to pharmacies. I was vaccinated. ” .. Among the 12 Latin Americans who traveled to the United States for the vaccine and were interviewed for this article, some expressed a sense of contradiction. Some who refused to speak on record said they felt guilty about getting the vaccine while their more vulnerable compatriots remained exposed to the disease. Argentine photographer Gonzales said her plans were devised after members of the online book club began talking about pandemic-related horrors rather than the books they were reading. “We started talking about it and thought about it. Why shouldn’t we go to Miami and get vaccinated?” She said. “From one week to the next, we bought tickets,” Gonzales said, making it easy to book a vaccine the day after arriving in Miami on April 1. The Johnson & Johnson shot at the Salvation Army Center was the end of a painful isolation period reminiscent of her cancer. Treatment 7 years ago. She was surprised that the people at the vaccination site asked fewer questions. “They wanted to vaccinate people,” she said. “They were excited to get vaccinated.” An early wave of Argentine vaccine travelers returning with an American vaccine certificate caused a sharp rise in airfare, said Sir Chandler. Santiago Torre Walsh, who runs a popular travel blog called, said. He said travelers were initially reluctant to acknowledge the purpose of the trip. “Now that has changed,” he said. “People seem willing to talk about it openly, which in turn motivates others to do it,” that Colombian Instagram influencer Bojacá did. A video of his preventive travel trip posted on Instagram contains a secretly recorded scene in which an American passport administrator asked who he was visiting. He and his travel companions said they were visiting their friends. “The guy didn’t even ask what we came here to do,” Bohaka was surprised at the next scene in the video. “I practiced the word” vaccine “in English about 80 times. While the flow of vaccine travelers from countries such as Colombia, Peru, Argentina and Mexico has been growing for months, Brazilians face unique challenges. The United States currently bans most people in Brazil from boarding flights to American cities, unless they spend two weeks in a country that is not subject to coronavirus travel restrictions. Returning US citizens and permanent residents can continue to enter the United States. Andrea Schwar, owner of São Paulo-based travel agency Venice Turismo, overcomes the ban for wealthy customers who are increasingly hoping to spend thousands of dollars to secure shots. He said it wasn’t impossible. In April, she sold a package that included a two-week transfer in places like Cancun and the Caribbean islands. In the first 18 days of May, she said she arranged a trip for more than 40 passengers. Clients include TV personalities who will soon start recording new shows and other wealthy Brazilians who are accustomed to taking extravagant vacations each year. “These are families who travel all year round and they have been justified by the money they can afford for the past year,” she said, saying that almost all clients bought business class tickets. “These aren’t bargain hunters.” Paraguayan real estate agent Acevedo says that overweight is a high risk, so the vaccine journey has come to be seen as a worthwhile investment and perhaps a life-saving step. Told. “I can’t quit my job, production. My job involves contact with many people,” he said. He reasoned that by securing an American vaccine, he was reducing the burden on the Paraguayan government. “Part of this is not taking doses from people who need them more,” he said. This article was originally published in The New York Times. © 2021 The New York Times Company