The Government’s explanation of why it will not give the vaccine to irregular migrants

Given the controversy that was unleashed by the statements of President Iván Duque, who assured that migrants in an irregular condition would not receive the vaccine against the coronavirus in Colombia, the Minister of Health, Fernando Ruiz, explained. This was what he said.

The president of Colombia, Iván Duque, was the target of criticism on Monday after declaring that Venezuelan migrants who are not regularized in the country or do not have dual nationality will not be able to access the vaccines against COVID-19, which will begin to arrive in Colombia in February 2021.

“Those who do not have the accreditation of being Colombian citizens at this time and who do not have their immigration status regularized, of course not,” said Duque.

Colombian President Iván Duque received strong criticism on Monday after declaring that Venezuelan migrants who are not regularized in the country or do not have dual nationality will not be able to access the covid-19 vaccines that will begin to arrive in February 2021.

See more: Migrants who are not regularized will not have a vaccine against the coronavirus, Duque

“Those who do not have at this time the accreditation of being Colombian citizens and who do not have their immigration status regularized, of course not,” said the president this Monday during an interview in Blue Radio.

Duque assured that if the application of the vaccine is approved for those who do not have their immigration status in Colombia regularized, “we would have a call for a stampede, for everyone to cross the border (with Venezuela), to ask to be vaccinated.”

With the curve of COVID-19 infections on the rise, the president also explained that the priority of his Government “will always be Colombian citizens.”

“We have cases of people who have dual nationality, these cases will be handled not based on nationality because we are not going to tell people ‘show me your passport so that they can enter the program’ (of vaccination),” he said.

See more: Why should Colombia vaccinate Venezuelan migrants?

According to Duque, in the case of people with dual nationality, who are regularized, meet the requirements, “they are within the pathologies, pre-existing conditions and the population at risk defined by the Ministry of Health, that gives guiding criteria for the application of the same ”.

The critics did not wait. Among them, the former Minister of Health Alejandro Gaviria, who when referring to the Venezuelan population living in Colombia assured that “it is a bad idea from an epidemiological point of view” not to allow them access to vaccines.

“But it is above all an unethical proposal: it excludes the most vulnerable and discriminates in an almost threatening way against a group of people because of their nationality and immigration status,” Gaviria added.

Also former minister Juan Camilo Restrepo considered the president’s comment “serious nonsense.” “Vaccination campaigns against contagious diseases should be as universal as possible. Failure to vaccinate some can generate infections to many others, “said Restrepo on Twitter.

The government’s explanation

This Wednesday, to meet the barrage of criticism, the Minister of Health, Fernando Rui, explained how the vaccination plan was structured. “In February, we will have the first group of vaccines, which will be Pfizer’s, and there are 1.7 million biologicals. In January we will be working on the enlistment, the entire plan that must be done with the territorial entities to locate the sites and prepare the points where the vaccination will be done, ”he said.

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The minister added that “it was concluded that it is very important that in order to make a structured plan in which we have complete traceability of the vaccine in people and we can study the adverse effects that are generated, it was fundamental and essential that the population was identified. Call it Colombian or non-Colombian population ”.

Thus, Ruiz ruled, regardless of nationality and age group, “the population has to be identified on what are called nominal bases,” he added, explaining that this is determined in the vaccine plan.

According to the minister, the population that is identified has the right to health coverage like any other citizen, those who are not registered “it is almost impossible to follow up.” Ruiz insisted that with the migrant population that comes and goes there is no obligation to attend to them.

“These people do not generate herd immunity as they return to their country, generating an effect of congestion in services, of no control of the vaccination scheme and no control.”

Guaidó’s controversy

The government of Nicolás Maduro has not referred to the issue, but the Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó described Colombia’s vaccination plan against COVID-19 as a “correct strategy”, despite the controversy.

“With the start of vaccination, all efforts are urgently needed to achieve it in the shortest time possible, countries like Colombia and President Iván Duque are already beginning an accurate strategy in this direction,” Guaidó wrote on Twitter.

In this sense, he affirmed that “the pandemic has affected everyone and the most vulnerable more severely.” Without directly mentioning Colombia, the opposition politician David Smolansky called for the vaccine to be launched “for everyone, without distinction.”

“The COVID-19 vaccine must be implemented for everyone, without distinction. Access to health is a human right, especially in times of pandemic, “he wrote on Twitter.

Smolansky was appointed by the General Secretariat of the Organization of American States (OAS) as commissioner for the Venezuelan migrant and refugee crisis.

Colombia is the largest recipient of the Venezuelan exodus and as of October 31 of this year the country had 1,717,352 citizens of that country, of which 55% are in an irregular situation, according to data from the immigration authority.

For his part, Guaidó’s ambassador to Colombia, Tomás Guanipa, said he trusts that the Colombian president, Iván Duque, will make “all efforts” so that Venezuelan migrants have access to the coronavirus vaccine.

“On the subject of COVID-19 vaccines we are absolutely sure that the Government of Colombia, as always, will make every effort so that both Colombians and the migrant population have access to it,” Guanipa wrote on Twitter.

Guaidó’s ambassador stressed that the international community must give more financial aid to Colombia so that the country can face the multiple needs of Venezuelan migrants.

“Colombia continues to need a lot of support from international cooperation to attend to our brothers, it is a mission that cannot be covered only by the Colombian Government. It is imperative that in the face of this new need, President Iván Duque receives all the necessary support, ”he said.