Immigrants Slow To Get Covid-19 Vaccine As Impediments Block Their Access

According to this article on Forbes, by Andy J. Semotiuk

“The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently announced that, starting October 1, 2021, green card applicants will be required to be fully vaccinated against Covid-19. Meanwhile, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis demanded the Biden administration provide personal information on undocumented migrants being relocated to Florida, including names, addresses and the number of people who tested positive for Covid-19 or refused the vaccine. These two developments pinpoint one of the main challenges of immigrants in the United States and the rate at which they are getting vaccinated. That challenge is that there is a substantial disparity in vaccination rates between undocumented immigrants on the one hand, and U.S. citizens and lawful residents on the other. Based on a recent Kaiser Family Foundation survey only about 25 % of “potentially undocumented” immigrants in the United States received their vaccine. This proportion of vaccinated individuals is half of the average vaccine rate of U.S. adults. The discrepancy is primarily due to the fear of deportation and lack of accessibility of undocumented immigrants to government programs.”