Andrew Cuomo urged Federal Government to Protect Undocumented Immigrants from Covid-19

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Governor of New York State, Andrew Cuomo has urged the US federal government to support underserved communities and protect undocumented immigrants. His statement came as the administration begins to announce plans to distribute a coronavirus vaccine. Point to be noted that Cuomo and a coalition of groups wrote a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, and called for a fair and equal vaccination program that reaches these communities. Governor issued a statement and said, “The federal government’s current plan to vaccinate Americans neglects key priorities that we need to effectively distribute the vaccine to millions of New Yorkers. We need to focus on Black, Brown, Asian and low-income communities that are historically underserved by the healthcare institutions that are key to the federal government’s plan”.

Cuomo also said the US federal program needs states to collect and share personal information for those taking the vaccine, which could be shared with federal agencies like the Department of Homeland Security and US Immigration & Customs Enforcement. He argued that it could dissuade undocumented immigrants from taking the vaccine. The letter proposes a modified system that tracks vaccinated individuals but doesn’t provide private information such as Social Security numbers, passport numbers, or driver license numbers. The letter also demanded the federal government must agree to keep this personal information private and not share it with any non-health agency. The letter says, “Obviously, a successful program administering the vaccine is critical to national health. But for the vaccination program to be successful, it must have the full participation of all the American people”.

The letter added, “It is in everyone’s interest for all of us to work together to encourage our respective constituents to participate in the vaccination program. Further, it is certainly not in the national interest for individuals to have valid concerns preventing such participation, and the undocumented community has specific and valid cause for concern in providing the unnecessary, irrelevant, and sensitive information to federal agencies”. The US Healthcare companies Moderna Inc. and Pfizer have applied to the Food and Drug Administration for emergency use authorization of its coronavirus vaccine. Azar delivered her words in a press interview and said, “The FDA has announced an advisory committee meeting for December 10. If approved for emergency use. We could be seeing both of these vaccines out and getting into people’s arms before Christmas”.