More than 20,000 seafarers have been inoculated against Covid-19 in the US, according to the latest figures from the North American Maritime Ministry Association (NAMMA).
US crew vaccinations are mainly being offered through programmes involving local US state authorities and seafarer welfare organisations including NAMMA, the International Christian Maritime Association and the International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF).
More than 70 US ports are offering jabs to crew, including Honolulu in the state of Hawaii.
NAMMA executive director Jason Zuidema said that thousands more seafarer vaccinations are likely to have taken place through commercial outlets in the US.
“We have passed the '20,000-foreign-seafarers-vaccinated' mark this week," Zuidema said. "I express sincere thanks to all seafarers' welfare organisations, ITF representatives, health providers, industry partners, and port or government representatives that continue to work together to make this happen.”
He added: “Of note, this number does not include vaccines facilitated by other commercial providers and agents, which I assume is in the thousands as well."
The NAMMA figures also do not include the thousands of cruise ship crew members vaccinated as cruise lines continue to immunise their workers at sea in a number of ports.
As an example of how vaccines can be accessed in the US, at the port of Mobile Alabama onboard services are available through the Mobile County Health Department, or can be sourced at the local Winn Dixie pharmacy. In many cases the one-shot Johnson and Johnson jab is used but other World Health Organization-approved vaccines are widely available.
However, there have been some problems with getting crew to vaccination centres.
Seafarers International House, which has been aiding vaccination efforts in the US, told TradeWinds it finds it difficult to help many seafarers get vaccinated in one visit because many vessels, particularly boxships, are in port for only a short while and can free up only a few crew members.
Vaccines are also becoming increasingly available around the world. On 25 June the Port of Hamburg started offering crew jabs to non-German nationals. Cyprus and the Netherlands are offering jabs to seafarers of all nationalities on locally managed ships.
There are also national seafarer vaccination schemes in the major seafarer supply countries of the Philippines, China and India. Other national seafarer schemes have started up in the UK, Italy, Greece, and Indonesia.
