OMSA, public cars and “guagua” buses ignore vaccination card measure

Vaccine card “a cumbersome, impractical, and unworkable idea”

Santo Domingo, DR

Blinded by the heat and overwhelmed by the traffic jams that usually characterize the capital’s main roads, most of the public transport drivers ignored requiring the vaccination card from passengers, and social distancing before boarding the vehicle.

Once the bus, car, or guagua parked at the established stop, the passengers jumped on them after exhausting a massive line for hours and without showing vaccination cards, having as their only priority reaching their destination before the fall of the rain glinting from the gray sky in the afternoon glow.

During a tour made by Listin Diario, it could be seen that the driver was not interested in the passenger showing that he had been inoculated against the disease. Instead, his objective was to ride six passengers and return for six more until the waiting lines were reduced.

Some citizens described the decision as “an impractical headache” to which they will deal with until “they get tired of forcing people to get vaccinated.” Drivers indicated that it is “a cumbersome, and unworkable idea.”

No compliance

The buses of the Oficina Metropolitana de Servicios de Autobuses (OMSA), which offer service on the Duarte highway, the public cars of the “ruta kilómetro 9 con dirección a Pantoja” and the “flying” guagua buses that circulate along San Martín street were some of the means of public transportation that paid no attention to the vaccine or negative PCR test mandate.

Photo on phone

A photograph of the vaccination card on their cell phone is one of the most common options passengers use to avoid losing or damaging them during the journey to their homes.

Others have decided to photocopy it and laminate it to attach it to their identification card to avoid mishaps, for example, when boarding the Metro.

Núñez bus

However, the Núñez de Cáceres Corridor and the Santo Domingo Metro comply with the restrictive measure that began yesterday.

“This is an order from above that I must comply with,” expressed a driver of the corridor to a passenger who had no way to justify that he had been vaccinated because he did not have his certification in hand.

“I got vaccinated but I don’t have the card here, I left it at home,” said the Infotep student worried about being denied access to the bus while he went to the control so that he could “chance” a ride home.

The driver on duty repeatedly repeated: “Vaccination card and ID in hand” when a passenger made a stop.

This corridor connects citizens from North to South, linking with line two of the subway that mobilizes passengers from John F. Kennedy, Gustavo Mejía Ricart, 27 de Febrero, Rómulo Betancourt, Sarasota, Anacaona, and Independencia avenues. The route serves the Los Ríos, Los Jardines, San Gerónimo, Los Prados, El Millón, Mirador Norte, Mirador Sur and Tropical sectors.