Unvaccinated migrants remain source of concern

With thousands of undocumented migrants in Greece, and millions in Europe, there is concern that the fight against the pandemic is being compromised due to the fact that the majority of them do not have access to vaccination. 

“Thousands of undocumented people remain invisible to the state, even though it has been reported that they work in critical and sensitive sectors, such as tourism, catering, household chores and agricultural production,” said lawyer and Chatham House research associate Anna Vallianatou and SolidarityNow’s head of advocacy Lefteris Papagiannakis in an article for Kathimerini.

They warned the situation is a serious obstacle to herd immunity and the effective protection of public health.

Migration Ministry sources have referred to “targeted actions” to inform migrants not living in facilities to get a temporary “Health Insurance and Healthcare for Foreigners” number so they can be vaccinated “without being detained and prosecuted.”