Undocumented foreign nationals living in South Africa want to be included in the country’s vaccination roll-out, particularly as the Department of Health has introduced programmes targeted at specific age categories and sectors.
Organisations like the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) and Section 27 have called for everyone to be allowed to register for the vaccine, regardless of their status.
Undocumented migrants not yet vaccinated
According to Section 27, refugees, asylum seekers, migrants and undocumented people are estimated to make up four million, or 7%, of South Africa’s total population – despite this, there are concerned that there is no clear plan on getting them vaccinated.
“The government’s COVID-19 vaccine rollout has not been clear on how undocumented persons can register to receive the vaccine. This is despite President Cyril Ramphosa’s assurances, at the start of the national vaccination programme, that all adults in the country would be vaccinated irrespective of their citizenship or residence status,” the group said.
Martha Luhanga, a 42-year-old woman from Malawi, has been living in South Africa since 2006, and is worried about contracting the virus and passing it onto her five-year-old son. Luhanga stays in Sunnyside, Pretoria and works at a local hair salon.
“Given the work I do, I come into contact with so many people. There is nothing I can do, it’s the job I’m in but I worry about putting my son’s life in danger because I can contract COVID-19 at any time,” she tells The South African.
“I am pleading with the government to do the right thing and allow people like me to get vaccinated because it is the only way we can make sure that everyone is not too vulnerable to this disease. I am not asking for much, just to be vaccinated”
Martha Luhanga, undocumented migrant from Malawi
As of Monday evening, 2 August 2021, more than 7.7 million vaccine doses have been administered and 3 million people have so far been fully vaccinated.
The African Centre for Migration & Society (ACMS) at Wits University reckons that the only way to reach herd immunity is to vaccinate everyone and has thus called on acting Health Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi to make the roll-out inclusive.
“The speed at which the third wave has swept across the country demonstrates, in real time, why we cannot wait to act. Where there’s a safe vaccine and where there are people at risk, we must vaccinate. This is Public Health 101: leaving anyone behind leaves us all behind,” the centre says.
“And this includes upholding the president’s promise to ‘make the vaccine available to all adults living in South Africa, regardless of their citizenship or residence status. We will be putting in place measures to deal with the challenge of undocumented migrants so that, as with all other people, we can properly record and track their vaccination history. It is in the best interests of all that as many of us receive the vaccine as possible.’”
The African Centre for Migration & Society (ACMS)
from The South African https://ift.tt/2TRvm1V
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