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The Colombian president said that Colombian citizens will have priority to receive the coronavirus vaccine and Venezuelan migrants who do not have dual nationality will not be vaccinated either.
In response to a question from the Blu Radio working table this Monday, President Iván Duque spoke about the vaccination plan against COVID-19 in Colombia. According to the president, Colombians will have priority on the issue of immunization against immigrants.
“The priority will always be the Colombian citizens. That will be our priority, because that is how it is marked. We have cases of citizens with dual nationality. Those cases are going to be handled, not based on nationality. If they are people who are regularized, who have the conditions and, additionally, are within the conditions of pathologies, of a risk condition, defined by the Ministry of Health, that provides guiding criteria for the application of the same, “said the president .
See more: Will immigrants be included in vaccination campaigns?
According to Migración Colombia, more than 1,717,000 Venezuelans are living in Colombia, according to the latest figures as of October 31, 2020.
The figure, which shows an increase of 0.1% compared to the month of September, would show that about 55% of Venezuelans who are in the national territory would be in an irregular condition, while the remaining 45% would have defined their migratory situation.
See more: “Vaccinationism”, the race to vaccinate everyone (at what cost?)
According to the Director General of Migration Colombia, Juan Francisco Espinosa Palacios, after about six months, the Venezuelan migratory dynamics begins to change and the entry of these nationals into the national territory is beginning to be evident, even using unauthorized steps.
The president was clear in saying that those who do not have “the accreditation of being Colombian citizens and who do not have their immigration status regularized, will not have the vaccine.”
“Of course not. Or if you do not imagine what we would be experiencing: we would have a call for a stampede for everyone to cross the border to ask to be vaccinated, “he insisted.
See more: Five challenges of the Venezuelan exodus in Colombia
Faced with the situation of migrants, the International Federation of the Red Cross (IFRC) called for them to be included in national vaccination campaigns against COVID-19, and warned that they should not be the last in line in accessing the tools to combat the pandemic.
“It is essential that we address the multiple barriers to international health coverage and that migrants are fully included in national vaccination campaigns,” IFRC President Francesco Rocca said in a statement.
“Not vaccinating Venezuelans is a bad idea from an epidemiological point of view. 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, ”wrote former Health Minister Alejandro Gaviria on Twitter.
Not vaccinating Venezuelans is a bad idea from an epidemiological point of view.
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.
– Alejandro Gaviria (@agaviriau) December 21, 2020
Colombia is the third Latin American country with the most infections (1.5 million) and the fourth with the highest number of deaths (40,400).
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