California, EE.UU.
Hundreds of migrant workers lined up during a harvest break this week to receive the coronavirus vaccine at a Southern California vineyard.
Inoculated farm workers are among the most vulnerable immigrants in the United States, especially the 11 million who do not have a residence permit and who, according to activists, may be the hardest to reach during the largest vaccination campaign in United States history. .
Some unauthorized immigrants fear that information collected during vaccination could be transferred to authorities and therefore may not seek vaccination, while those who speak little or no English may find it difficult to access doses. Like other groups, some are hesitant about the vaccine being recently approved, and language barriers can also make it difficult to get messages to stop misinformation.
While these difficulties may exist for many vulnerable groups of immigrants, they are of particular concern to those of Latino descent, who make up a large proportion of the workforce in industries where they are at high risk of exposure to the coronavirus.
“There is fear and it is real … but so is the fear of dying from COVID-19,” said Pablo Alvarado, director of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, a group that watches over their lives.
To meet these challenges, organizations supporting Latino immigrants are moving to fields to bring vaccines and information to migrant workers and trying to counter misinformation in Spanish and other languages.
In California’s sprawling Riverside County, home to a $ 1.3 billion agricultural sector, the Desert Healthcare District and Foundation, a nonprofit health organization that transported vaccines to the vineyard, recently released tablets that workers could make. His appointment to be vaccinated, said Conrado Bárzaga, its CEO. The organization also shares information about the virus and how you can get tested on WhatsApp. The messages are in Spanish and Purépecha, an indigenous language of Western Mexico spoken by some California farm workers.
The Red Organizadora Nacional de Jornaleros has used a radio show in Spanish on social media to share information about the virus during the pandemic. Now the show’s hosts, many of them migrants and low-income workers, intend to debunk the myths about the vaccine among 300,000 weekly listeners, Alvarado said.
He believes that fighting misinformation on social media is key to overcoming most mistrust about the vaccine, such as refuting the false claim that people are being microchipped with it.
Daniel Cortés, 58, a Mexican immigrant living in New York, is one of the reluctant. You cannot live in the United States. He says he won’t get the vaccine because he is healthy and fears a side effect. The trials of vaccines used in the country in which thousands have participated have shown no signs of serious side effects so far and few unforeseen side effects have been reported in the first days of the vaccinations spreading in the country.
“I continue to distance myself socially, I wash my hands, change my clothes when I get home,” said Cortés, who said he believed these precautions were enough. “I haven’t gotten sick in eight years and I hope to continue like this.”
President Joe Biden’s $ 1.9 trillion “America Rescue Plan” includes a program to establish community vaccination centers and use mobile clinics in various parts of the country to reach hard-to-reach communities. He has also said he will take steps to make the vaccine free to all people who are in the United States, regardless of their immigration status.
However, some activist groups say the legacy of President Donald Trump’s restrictive immigration policies will make reaching some immigrants particularly difficult.
In Florida, Maria Rodriguez, executive director of the Florida Immigrant Coalition in Miami, said fears persist over the previous government’s so-called prosecution rule, which was intended to deny immigrants green cards to whom they receive food stamps or other public benefits. receive.
While the prosecution rule has never restricted access to communicable disease tests or vaccines and is being challenged in court, Rodriguez said, “it doesn’t matter, the perception remains.”
Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts recently came under fire when he reported that legal-status workers would be given priority in the state’s vaccination campaign over those without when asked about the plan to protect meat-packing facilities that traditionally depend were from foreign workers.
The next day, however, Ricketts appeared to be withdrawing, reporting through his spokesperson that “proof of citizenship is not required for vaccination,” said the Omaha-World Herald newspaper.
Blanca Flores, a community organizer with the National Farmers’ Alliance, said many of the women she works with in rural Homestead, Florida believe that any personal information they provide could be used against them in some way or another. . They are also concerned about missing workdays and possible discharge if they experience adverse side effects.
“They would like to wait a month or two to see what happens and then make a decision,” said Flores, a Colombian immigrant who resides legally.
But others are eager to get vaccinated, perhaps a reflection of how Latino immigrant communities have been disproportionately ravaged by the virus. In New York, Francisco Flores, a Mexican immigrant who lost a brother, brother-in-law, and sister-in-law to COVID-19, said he would not hesitate to get the vaccine.
Flores, 54, who has lived in the United States without a license for more than two decades, plans to join the list when he can.
‘The government already has my data. I’ve been here for a long time. I have a driver’s license, bank accounts. I have nothing to fear, ”said Flores, who works for a golf course company. “And after what we’ve been through with COVID, I wouldn’t hesitate to get vaccinated.”