How many illegals are there in Italy? And when will they be vaccinated? The issue obviously concerns everyone’s health as well as, of course, those directly affected. Because the higher the percentage of immunized, the lower the viral circulation will be. According to the most recent estimates by the Institute for International Political Studies (Ispi, 2020), the invisibles are over 600 thousand, increasing in recent years due to the “security decree”. More than 600 thousand people to be given the vaccine who do not appear in the official statistics. The topic has been discussed for months, without anything having moved for now. Almost.
Lombardy is preparing to vaccinate even homeless and foreigners
On May 19, Marco Salmoiraghi, Deputy Director of Welfare of the Lombardy Region, broke the delay by stating in the Health Committee that Lombardy intended to vaccinate irregular foreigners, homeless people and other subjects without “regular” health care starting from the first days of June, in collaboration with some associations: and in fact Progetto Arca and Casa della Carità are already taking care of vaccinating their patients. But for now, the migrants are still waiting. “A discussion with the national government has been underway for some weeks”, the councilor for Welfare Letizia Moratti said today: “As soon as the matter is defined and awaiting the lists of the Ministry of Health, the Region will promptly activate the vaccination also for these people “.
Bellanova: “The vaccine must be equated with emergency medical care”
How to intervene? For the Deputy Minister of Infrastructures and Senator of Italy Viva Teresa Bellanova, “an ordinance or whatever will be deemed appropriate by the Ministry of Health to equate the vaccine with emergency medical care” will be required. Because, explained to Rai Radio1, host of ‘Un Giorno da Pecora’, “it is a problem not only of humanity but also of security, for immigrants but also for Italian citizens. First the vaccine is started for these people and first we could say that we are a civilized country also on these issues “. Bellanova said she was in favor of vaccinating illegal workers as well. “We discuss whether to get the vaccine during the holidays but we do not discuss many people who continue to be invisible, hundreds of thousands, who must be guaranteed the right to health like all other citizens”.
For now, in fact, illegal immigrants cannot book, even if at the registry level they would have the right to be immunized. Not having a health card or a general practitioner, they are not among the audience of people to be vaccinated. Invisible, in fact. Various realities are dealing with the case, including the Italian Society of Migration Medicine, whose president Marco Mazzetti recalled a few days ago in a letter that article 32 (“the Republic protects health as a fundamental right of the individual and of the community “) leaves little doubt that everyone has the right to receive a vaccine and” moreover, the current legislation fully recognizes the right to vaccination even for undocumented people “.
On May 31, on behalf of the Immigration and Health Table and the Asylum and Immigration Table, a letter was sent to the Extraordinary Commissioner Figliuolo and to the President of the Fedriga State-Regions Conference in which 32 associations expressed “deep concern for the silent exclusion” of population in a condition of social fragility from access to vaccination. “Overall, there are hundreds of thousands of foreign and Italian people, in part already entitled to the vaccine (by age, by pathology or, as for caregivers, by job category), but who cannot access it due to merely administrative obstacles” . In short, the government is required to intervene. At stake is the right to health of hundreds of thousands of people. And also the interest of the community to ensure that a resurgence of the virus can be avoided in the future.
.