The Challenge of Reaching Undocumented Migrants with COVID-19 Vaccination

Stephen A. Matlin (), Alyna C. Smith, Jessica Merone (), Michele LeVoy, Jalpa Shah, Frank Vanbiervliet, Stéphanie Vandentorren, Joanna Vearey and Luciano Saso
Additional contact information
Stephen A. Matlin: Institute of Global Health Innovation, Imperial College London, South Kensington, London SW7 2AZ, UK
Alyna C. Smith: Rue du Congrès/Congresstraat 37-41, P.O. Box 5, 1000 Brussels, Belgium
Jessica Merone: Human Rights Center, University of Padova, Via 8 Febbraio, 2, 35122 Padova, Italy
Michele LeVoy: Rue du Congrès/Congresstraat 37-41, P.O. Box 5, 1000 Brussels, Belgium
Jalpa Shah: Santé Publique France, 12 rue du Val d’Osne, CEDEX, 94415 Saint-Maurice, France
Frank Vanbiervliet: Bruss’help, 1000 Brussels, Belgium
Stéphanie Vandentorren: Santé Publique France, 12 rue du Val d’Osne, CEDEX, 94415 Saint-Maurice, France
Joanna Vearey: African Centre for Migration & Society (ACMS), University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg 2000, South Africa
Luciano Saso: Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 16, 1-25

Abstract: Access to vaccination against a health threat such as that presented by the COVID-19 pandemic is an imperative driven, in principle, by at least three compelling factors: (1) the right to health of all people, irrespective of their status; (2) humanitarian need of undocumented migrants, as well as of others including documented migrants, refugees and displaced people who are sometimes vulnerable and living in precarious situations; and (3) the need to ensure heath security globally and nationally, which in the case of a global pandemic requires operating on the basis that, for vaccination strategies to succeed in fighting a pandemic, the highest possible levels of vaccine uptake are required. Yet some population segments have had limited access to mainstream health systems, both prior to as well as during the COVID-19 pandemic. People with irregular resident status are among those who face extremely high barriers in accessing both preventative and curative health care. This is due to a range of factors that drive exclusion, both on the supply side (e.g., systemic and practical restrictions in service delivery) and the demand side (e.g., in uptake, including due to fears that personal data would be transmitted to immigration authorities). Moreover, undocumented people have often been at increased risk of infection due to their role as “essential workers”, including those experiencing higher exposure to the SARS-CoV-2 virus due to frontline occupations while lacking protective equipment. Often, they have also been largely left out of social protection measures granted by governments to their populations during successive lockdowns. This article reviews the factors that serve as supply-side and demand-side barriers to vaccination for undocumented migrants and considers what steps need to be taken to ensure that inclusive approaches operate in practice.

Keywords: undocumented migrants; COVID-19 vaccination; supply- and demand-side access barriers; equitable access (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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