COVID-19 holiday vaccination packages spark public debate

You can legally go to Dubai, Cuba, or even Florida, in spite of the pandemic! Several countries are offering vaccine vacation packages for... a price.

Dubai Skyline
© Getty Images
Dubai Skyline

Vaccination tourism is a thing now. While some countries offer tourism for more affordable cosmetic surgery, others are now offering travel packages that include tourist attractions and a COVID-19 vaccine.

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This new practice is basically just a scheme to force tourists to get a vaccine before entering a country. Take Cuba, for example: the country just developed four COVID-19 vaccines, including Soberana 2, and is already attracting tourists.

Cuban authorities want to launch their vaccination campaign in the first half of the year, and they hope to produce 100 million doses of Soberana 2 by the end of 2021 and start supplying vaccines to other countries.

More than 40,000 people have gotten the vaccine in Florida

The 'beaches, Caribbean, mojitos and vaccine' dream combo has already been sold to many tourists, and Florida is one of several places selling it. Reportedly, out of the 1 million people in Florida who've received a vaccine, more than 40,000 came from another state or from other countries.

Vaccination tourists have been landing in Florida from places like Canada, India, and South America. In order to earn their right to relax in the sun, tourists are under the obligation to enter Florida specifically to be vaccinated, a compulsory part of the process.

To receive the magic antidote, you have to spend at least three months out of the year in Florida and register at a center. Despite this new rule, 50,000 people living outside the state managed to get the vaccine, according to the Guardian.

A £40 000 'all-inclusive' package in Dubai

Dubai is offering a vaccine-vacation package to tourists around the world. So if you want to spend a month at the hotel and get two doses of the vaccine, you'll have to pay a whopping £40 000, regardless of how old you are. Everyone has the right to get the vaccine, right?

This vaccination tourism trend sparked a lot of controversy on social networks. Many Internet users are not at all pleased with the concept.

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