Universal Access to Vaccines Is a Step Forward to Defeat COVID-19 in the Dominican Republic

Civil society organizations that work with migrant populations positively value the commitment assumed by the authorities of the Ministry of Public Health to guarantee that all people residing in Dominican territory may access the National COVID-19 Vaccination Plan regardless of their documentary situation or migration status.

Since last March, more than 15 community-based entities have joined the #RDIncludesMigrants campaign, coordinated by the Migration Observatory and Social Development in the Caribbean (OBMICA), which seeks to communicate and advocate in favor of integrating migrants and their families into public-health measures to contain and control COVID-19 in the Dominican Republic.

For organizations accompanying migrant populations, universal access to vaccines constitutes a powerful message of inclusion that has generated trust, awakened interest, and inspired the enthusiasm of the entire population in the process, an important step toward meeting immunization goals and moving from solidarity to economic recovery.

In this regard, they welcome the statements made by the Minister of Public Health, Dr. Enrique Rivera, reflecting an equitable distribution and application of vaccines throughout the national territory, from children aged 12 to older adults.

"The health crisis calls for a humanitarian response that guarantees the right to health for everyone, so both the preventive framework and the control measures must be applied regardless of people's documentary or migration status in order to expand and make the system's response more efficient," explains Bridget Wooding, OBMICA's director.

The campaign coordination highlights that the emergency context has posed an additional challenge for migrants in managing their documents. Like other government agencies, the General Directorate of Migration has seen its capacity to serve users reduced, so the renewal of cards issued by the National Plan for the Regularization of Foreigners (PNRE) has been slow. The registration of Venezuelan citizens with a view to normalizing their status is currently taking place, which means that this population still does not have documents at hand proving regular status.

Likewise, the requirement for identity documents to access protection measures implemented by the State places undocumented Dominicans in a situation of risk, as national press coverage has reported in recent weeks. At the local level, interesting initiatives have been developed in which municipal authorities are in contact with community leaders in order to seek solutions to this reality.

"RD Includes the Migrant" aims to serve as a bridge for creating synergy among government actors, churches, community-based civil society organizations, and cooperation agencies, fostering joint work to reach populations in vulnerable situations, including migrants and undocumented Dominicans, who because of economic hardship, misinformation, age, documentary status, and possible difficulties in access to the system may be left outside COVID-19 protection and control measures.

It should be emphasized that civil society has made available to the authorities its experience and capacity for coordination through community networks in order to organize operations that enable more people to be vaccinated, especially older adults and residents of remote communities who cannot bear the transportation costs to vaccination sites.

Together with OBMICA, the campaign includes Asociacion De La Comunidad Migrante (ACMDH); Asociacion Scalabriniana al Servicio de la Movilidad Humana (ASCALA); Centro de Desarrollo Sostenible (CEDESO); Comision De Trabajo Ecumenico Dominicano (COTEDO); Concilio de Iglesias Cristiana Reformada de la Republica Dominicana; Fundacion Etnica Integral (LA FEI); Plataforma Comunicacional al Servicio del Migrante Globalizate Radio; Juventud Empoderada para la Transformacion de Monte Plata (JET); Mesa Nacional para las Migraciones y Refugiados en Republica Dominicana (MENAMIRD); Movimiento de Mujeres Dominico Haitianas (MUDHA); Movimiento Reconoci.do; Movimiento Socio Cultural Para Los Trabajadores Haitianos (MOSCTHA); and Resonate Global Mission.