The Carnival Vista cruise ship (seen here on an earlier trip in April) was carrying 2895 guests and … [+]
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Well, this was a ship out of luck. A Carnival Vista cruise ship traveling in the past week from Galveston, Texas, to Belize City, Belize, had a Covid-19 outbreak along the way. And everyone who ended up testing positive for the Covid-19 coronavirus had been previously vaccinated. That’s because nearly all of the crew members and passengers on the ship had already gotten Covid-19 vaccines.
According to an August 11 report from the Belize Tourism Board, the ship was carrying 2895 guests and 1441 crew with 96.5% of the passengers and 99.98% of the crew vaccinated. They didn’t clarify if “vaccinated” meant fully vaccinated or what specific vaccines everyone had gotten.
Regardless, Belize it or not, a Covid-19 outbreak still occurred. At least one person must have carried the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SAR-CoV-2) on board. So far, 27 people, 26 crew members and one passenger, have tested positive for the SARS-CoV-2. All 27 affected had already been vaccinated, and apparently, “most are asymptomatic or have very mild symptoms,” in the words of the Belize Tourism Board report.
After crew members were placed in isolation and contact tracing was performed, passengers then were able to disembark in Belize. The cruise ship has since implemented additional Covid-19 precautions such requiring more face mask wearing indoors, having crew members wear N95 masks, and shutting down crew social areas. Going forward, Carnival will require guests to have negative rapid tests before boarding, regardless of their vaccination status.
The Carnival Vista cruise ship was bound for Belize City, the capital of Belize in Central America. … [+]
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All of this doesn’t mean that the Covid-19 vaccines don’t offer any protection. That would be like having your pants fall down in the middle of a job interview or date and saying, “see, this proves that pants don’t do anything.” The Covid-19 outbreak could have been much worse had more people not been vaccinated. Who knows how many more people could have been infected? Plus, those who got infected could have ended having worse Covid-19 and worse outcomes had they not received the Covid-19 vaccines previously.
This Carnival outbreak is a reminder though that while the Covid-19 vaccines can offer very good protection, they are not perfect. They are not like full body concrete condoms. You typically don’t walk into a party and say, “I’ve got some underwear on and am ready to mingle.” Similarly, don’t walk into any public place and say, “I’m fully vaccinated, I’m indestructible, and I’m ready for some social closening.” Even though you may be fully vaccinated, it’s important to still maintain other Covid-19 precautions like social distancing and face mask wearing.
This is especially true aboard a cruise ship. Cruise ships can be wet dreams or buffets for the Covid-19 coronavirus. After all, such ships can pack quite a few people together into relatively close quarters. And people typically don’t stay confined in their cabins during the whole trip. Otherwise they could have just stayed at home and put their beds on rocking machines. As a result, cruise ships can have lots of shared surfaces and airspace that may be easily contaminated. Remember most of a cruise ship is still indoors. If it weren’t, it would be known as a cruise raft instead.
Even though most of the passengers on this particular trip were vaccinated, Carnival’s website does say that they “will continue to welcome unvaccinated guests, including children under 12 who are not eligible for a vaccine.” They do require those not vaccinated to present proof of a negative PCR Covid-19 test at check-in, that was performed sometime between 72 and 24 hours before the departure date, and to take an additional antigen test on the day of departure. Such testing is not quite the same as being vaccinated. Tests can have false negatives and only determine whether the person was infectious at that specific time. It can be like taking a pregnancy test immediately after having sex. A person can always turn positive later.
With the more contagious Delta variant spreading on land in the U.S., there’s a good chance that it can spread on sea too, meaning on a ship that’s at sea. So cruise lines will have to get their ship together and implement multiple layers of Covid-19 precautions, likely more than they had originally envisioned when resuming cruises earlier this year. Otherwise, they will risk being up a ship’s creek without a paddle, so to speak.
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