Gov’t to give $10,000 to 60 years and older once vaccinated

3 years ago

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The Government will be giving a one-time $10,000 to elderly Jamaicans, 60 years and older, who are either unemployed or have a low income.

However, in order to benefit from the grant, these persons must be vaccinated.

“As soon as the conditions allow, under the SERVE Jamaica Programme we will roll out a Conditional Cash Transfer for the Vaccinated (CCTV) sub-programme for all persons aged 60 and over;  who are not in receipt of a paycheck or a pension greater than $1.5m per annum, who have been vaccinated as evidenced by the records at the Ministry of Health,”

Finance Minister Dr Nigel Clarke said in Parliament on Tuesday.

The vaccine-married grant to the elderly is is being funded from a massive $60 billion Social and Economic Recovery and Vaccine Programme (SERVE) for Jamaica, developed by the Government.  as the SERVE Jamaica Programme.  A significant portion of the money is being spent on healthcare and vaccines, to ensure Jamaica achieves herd immunity against COVID-19.  

Funds will also be spent upgrading the country’s physical infrastructure islandwide in an attempt to boost economic activity and job creation. 

Clarke, acknowledging that the elderly population may not be able to access work on some of the infrastructure project, said that grant is one way of helping this group.

“Madam Speaker, there is public interest in ensuring that the vulnerable, older population is vaccinated. We also want to ensure that older persons who cannot take up the work opportunities that will become available under the SERVE Jamaica Programme, and who otherwise have no formal income or that income is below the threshold, receive a grant.  We expect in excess of 100,000 Jamaicans to benefit from this programme,” Clarke said.