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New York Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo on Tuesday wrote a letter calling on US Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar to change an upcoming COVID-19 vaccination schedule that he said would not be useful correctly “black, brown, Asian and low-income communities”.
Additionally, Cuomo said, the program contains specific requirements that could deter undocumented immigrants from getting vaccinated, which would hamper efforts to contain the virus.
Cuomo wrote that while the full participation of Americans is clearly essential to the success of a COVID-19 vaccination effort, he remains “deeply troubled” by the agency’s “failure” to help those underserved by private health facilities.
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“COVID infection and death rates are significantly higher in these communities, and failure to provide these communities with an adequate vaccination program, whether intentionally or by effect, will result in further discrimination against these communities. “, he urged.
Further, Cuomo lambasted the federal government’s requirement that a “data sharing agreement” – including social security numbers, driver’s license identification numbers and passport numbers – be executed by governments. states before starting the immunization program.
“This provision clearly raises concerns, as the proposed criteria are all substitutes for proof of citizenship. The concern is exacerbated by an additional federal provision in the Data Sharing Agreement specifically providing that information could be shared with d ‘other federal agencies, that is, the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs (ICE), “he wrote.” If undocumented Americans are discouraged from participating in the vaccination program, this would jeopardize both their health and the effectiveness of the entire vaccination program. “
The governor has proposed several changes to address the issues, including an identification system that does not share the aforementioned personal information with the federal government and requires that vaccination credentials not be shared with any other non-health agency. .
“The undocumented community has specific and valid grounds for concern in providing unnecessary, irrelevant and sensitive information to federal agencies,” the governor concluded.
According to data from the Pew Research Center, more than 10 million undocumented immigrants live in the United States, which is almost a quarter of the total immigrant population.
Data from 2017 shows that approximately 725,000 immigrants currently reside in New York State, which has a population of over 19.4 million.
The Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center reports that during the coronavirus pandemic, 647,980 New Yorkers were infected with the virus and more than 34,600 people died.
Cuomo’s appeal to Azar was supported by a coalition of advocacy groups including the NAACP, the National Urban League, the Hispanic Health Network & Latino Commission on AIDS Inc., the Asian American Community Empowerment, the Arab-American Family. Support Center, the Worker Justice Center in New York and Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of New York.
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“We are moving quickly towards a COVID-19 vaccine, which is good news. However, the federal government’s current plan to immunize Americans is neglecting the key priorities we need to effectively distribute the vaccine to millions of New Americans. Yorker, ”Cuomo said in a statement. .
“Time is running out as we get closer to the distribution date and I urge the administration to address these issues quickly,” he said.
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