A room with a vaccine
Fort Lauderdale hotels offering vaccinations — and perks — hoping to lure visitors
Fort Lauderdale’s beachfront hotels find themselves in an odd predicament this summer: International visitors and cruise passengers aren’t coming, and a trickle of guests from other parts of the U.S. are arriving maskless.
In a move to lure travelers and promote safety among workers, five oceanfront hotels are holding pop-up COVID vaccination clinics this week. The hotels are offering grocery coupons, days off and vacation packages for employees and free overnight stays for guests to return for their second dose.
“No one has to show an ID or insurance card; they just need to come and get vaccinated,” said Tomas Vago, general manager of Fort Lauderdale Hilton.
In Miami and Orlando, vaccination sites have seen travelers from Mexico, Colombia, Ecuador, Canada, Argentina, Peru, and the
United Kingdom. But Fort Lauderdale beach thus far has not proven to be a destination of choice for foreign vaccination tourism.
The onsite event Tuesday at the Hilton drew hotel employees such as Coyhen Richards, a 38-year-old chef supervisor whose long, late-night work hours had detoured him from getting a COVID vaccine. Richards, originally from Jamaica, says he knows COVID vaccines are more scarce in his home country and can save lives. His motivation on Tuesday, however, was convenience and the idea of taking off his mask after a second dose. “It gets hot in the kitchen, and it’s a little challenging,” he said.
Nicholas Coleman, a server at the S3-Sun Surf Sand restaurant in the Hilton also found stripping off his mask after being vaccinated worth coming in a little early to get his shot.
“I’ve been working a lot, and I am around staff who already got COVID, so I hadn’t really made it a priority,” he said. “I figured it’s time to get it when I can get it right at my job.”
By noon on Tuesday, 11 Hilton employees had been vaccinated — both in back offices and kitchens or on the front line interacting with guests. Vago said he can’t force his staff to get vaccinated, but wanted to encourage them, particularly as the Delta variant spreads in the state. On Monday, the first of the two-dose Pfizer vaccines began at the Pelican Grand Beach Resort; Tuesday at the Hilton Fort Lauderdale Beach Resort; Wednesday at the Westin Fort Lauderdale Beach Resort; Thursday at Bahia Mar Fort Lauderdale Beach and Friday, at Lago Mar Beach Resort & Club.
Monday’s event at the Pelican Grand lured only six employees, disappointing manager TJ Pierri. “We did not get the traction from the public we had hoped,” he said.
Pierri said while the pop-up clinics had not lured guests, getting more of his staff vaccinated helps toward allowing everyone to feel more comfortable in the hotel where fewer people now wear masks.
“We as a community need to be persistent with vaccinations,” Pierri said. “Whether it’s six or sixty, we are that much further ahead.”