Florida makes it easier to vaccinate undocumented immigrants and tourists by eliminating proof of residency

MIAMI.- People over 16 can be vaccinated in Florida from Friday without proof of residence, announced by the health authorities, which paves the way for the vaccination of undocumented migrants and, in fact, facilitates “vaccine tourism” in this US state.

In January, in response to the arrival of tourists eager to get vaccinated when COVID-19 vaccines were still scarce, Florida imposed residency testing as a condition for receiving the injection.

The measure has affected undocumented workers, who often do not have a driver’s license, contracts or invoices in their name, that’s why lawmakers and activists have called on Governor Ron DeSantis to remove this obstacle.

Now that more than six million people have been vaccinated in Florida and demand is much lower, the Ministry of Health overturned its January decision.

The The vaccine will be available to anyone “resident or present in Florida for the purpose of providing goods or services for the benefit of residents and visitors to the state.”The Florida Department of Health said Thursday evening.

This will allow undocumented people to access the vaccine by simply declaring, verbally, that they live in the state or provide a service here.

Miami-Dade Democratic Mayor Daniella Levine-Cava celebrated the turnaround on Friday. “It’s a victory for all of us who call our community homeHe wrote on Twitter.

In fact, the move will also facilitate so-called “vaccine tourism” that the hurdles imposed in January were supposed to contain.

But “the benefits of opening vaccination for undocumented Floridians are far greater than [la necesidad] limit it to avoid tourists, ”said Guadalupe de la Cruz, of the social justice NGO American Friends Service Committee of Florida.

“It is the least that Florida can do to include and protect the well-being of members of its community,” he told AFP.

“Now it’s easier”

Previous restrictions did not prevent tourists from coming to Florida to get vaccinated. Since January, wealthy Latin Americans have creatively bypassed the residency requirement.

They did this by showing bank accounts with an address in the United States or temporary leases, from Airbnb for example, which were later canceled.

For example, María, an Argentinian interior designer who came to Miami to be vaccinated last weekend, told AFP that she made the trip because in her country “there is no vaccinations “for people his age, 46 years old.

“I had this temporary six-month contract with my name, nothing very formal, boy [en el centro de vacunación] He looked at it and found my name matched the name on my passport and that’s it, ”she said, asking not to be identified by her last name.

Now, without having to present residency documents, “it will be much easier,” María said on Friday, adding that she was aware “A lot” of people in Argentina that they were making the same decision as she was.

“A lot of people go to Miami to do it. Now, I think they will go more, even if the tickets are quite expensive ”, the woman continued, back in Buenos Aires with a single dose of Pfizer.

North Miami Beach Mayor Anthony DeFillipo last Friday said his city had vaccinated many tourists simply by showing the address of the hotel or their consulate.

“Yes, you can come here in North Miami Beach, we have a large population of international people who were able to come with their passports and a local address here,” DeFillipo said on a Facebook Live with interviewers in Colombia.

His apparent invitation to all Latin Americans to travel for vaccinations was circulated enthusiastically in the region’s media and on Monday the city had to back down “because of the misunderstanding,” according to the local Miami Herald newspaper.

Agencia AFP

THE NATION