A mother in the San Fernando Valley celebrated being vaccinated against COVID-19 days after the woman, who is undocumented, was removed from Rite Aid in Mission Hills when she presented her foreign consular identity card as identification.
Her son, Sebastian Araujo, entered social media, drawing the attention of Eyewitness News and government leaders such as California District 29 Representative Tony Cardenas, who said the country’s legal status should not be vaccinated.
“This is not a requirement at the federal, state or local level and the organization was told very clearly that it was wrong and they immediately apologized for it, but the woman left her very discouraged,” said Rep. Cardenas.
Sebastian’s mother is not alone.
Just days after Eyewitness News reported Monday’s report on the Mission Hills incident, another undocumented woman, this time from South Orange County, was denied COVID-19 vaccination twice on Thursday at a Rite Aid in Laguna Niguel.
He did not want to go to the room, but took care of the children of the Rager family, who were heartbroken by the humiliation they suffered. Their five-year-old nanny was left in tears.
The family’s father, Kevin Rager, gave Eyewitness News a Zoom interview.
San Fernando Valley family raises awareness after undocumented mother is denied COVID vaccine
“This kind of thing should never happen to a person no matter where they come from. I come from an immigrant family. I married an immigrant and things like that shouldn’t happen nowadays, especially with the guidelines that exist now, “Rager said.
Rager provided his employee with a letter confirming that he was following his children, but this combined with an out-of-state identity card was not enough.
The pharmacist insisted on a social security card, saying that the woman has priority for American citizens and later repeated this inaccurate information by phone to Ragers.
When he researched the guidelines, Rager was shocked to learn the Eyewitness News report online from a similar incident, just days earlier, at Rite Aid in Mission Hills.
“I just want the government or companies to send information to their employees saying that this type of behavior is not tolerated. You know that these questions should not be asked of anyone, and our whole country needs to be vaccinated, so I don’t see why anyone should be refused when they actually want to be vaccinated, “Rager said.
In both cases, Rite Aid representatives contacted the parties involved to apologize.
Sebastian’s mother was shot at a different Rite Aid than the one she was returned to.
There have been clear changes to the company’s website.
If the driver’s license and social security card were previously listed as acceptable forms of identification issued by the government, a social security card is no longer mentioned and a note was added stating “You will not be rejected if you do not have a photo ID or insurance. “
In emails and by phone, a Rite Aid spokesman acknowledged that mistakes had been made and said that after the Mission Hills incident, staff were retrained, but the reason it happened again in Orange County was still investigated on Friday.
Rite Aid rescheduled a vaccination meeting for the family’s child care provider later that week.
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