Pensioners who are not vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus will not be turned away from receiving their 2022 pension booklets or the payout of a one-off $25000 grant as the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security has waived its proof of vaccination requirement policy.
“No one will be turned away…we have not taken any position to turn anyone of our senior citizens away… but we are encouraging vaccination,” Minister of Human Services and Social Security (MoHSSS) Dr Vindhya Persaud explained yesterday.
She stated that her ministry has implemented COVID-19 measures to ensure that persons are safe at all times.
For the distribution of the pension booklets and COVID-19 relief cash grant, Minister Persaud said that they will be utilising tents and adjoining or adjacent buildings to accommodate pensioners comfortably.
She also stated that they will be providing masks and sanitizers at every location for pensioners’ use.
Starting from tomorrow, the ministry will roll out its distribution of booklets and the one-off COVID-19 cash grant.
As part of the measures in place, the Minister said they have boosted their human strength at the sites in a bid to ensure the distribution process is efficient and fast.
The work of officers from the ministry will be supported by volunteers from the Rotary Club and faith-based organisations.
Persaud was quoted in a release from her Ministry on Friday as saying: “I want to make this distribution safe, seamless and hassle-free for recipients and we are trying to avoid people making several trips to uplift these vouchers.” She further indicated that this will be the first time that pensioners will be able to receive their pension books so early for the upcoming year.
However, Persaud is urging pensioners not to rush to receive their vouchers as officers will be working from Monday to Friday.
“What we are asking is that they don’t all come at once, especially on the first day… utilize the Monday to Friday working hours… take a day and come in. We have the distribution sites in proximity to payment centres, so if you collect your vouchers you can use the same time and cash your monthly voucher as well as the extra $25,000,” Persaud said.
The grant which will be given in the form of vouchers, will be valid until November 30 and recipients are therefore advised to cash them before then.
The initiative covers persons who are registered on the Ministry’s database as Minister Persaud indicated that persons living with disabilities who have not yet registered with the MoHSSS can do so through its data collection officers based at their countrywide offices.
Meanwhile, distribution dates at post offices and entities like MoneyGram, Western Union, and Sure Pay, are from October 4 to 9 in regions Four and Seven. Regions One and Nine will begin distribution in some locations. Distribution in regions Five and Six will run from October 11 to 16, while distribution in regions Three and Ten will run from October 18 to 23, with Region Eight also commencing in some locations on those dates.
Pensioners who utilise the banking system will receive the cash grant via direct deposit in the month of October.
According to the release, residents of hinterland regions One, Eight, and Nine will be informed of specific delivery locations by officers in their regions through a direct delivery system. Should anyone miss the specified dates in October, both the pension books and cash grant vouchers will be available throughout November at the ministry’s offices countrywide.
