Vaccination site at Music City Center
With Tennessee’s COVID-19 vaccine rollout underway, some members of special populations — defined by the Metro Public Health Department as highly impacted populations that require extra resources — have been left wondering if they will have the same access to the vaccine as other groups.
That group includes refugees and immigrants, some of whom are hesitant to seek out the vaccine for fear that authorities could ask for their identification. Similar concerns emerged earlier in the pandemic, when community members identified a reluctance among undocumented immigrants to seek out COVID-19 tests at city-run sites, though Metro does not ask people getting tested for their immigration status.
But both state and local officials confirm that they will not consider immigration status when distributing the vaccine.
“Immigration status is not a factor,” says Casey Black, spokesperson for Gov. Bill Lee.
“It is the intention of the state to vaccinate all individuals when they are eligible to receive a vaccine,” adds Shelley Walker, spokesperson for the Tennessee Department of Health.
Judith Clerjeune, advocacy and campaigns director at the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition, says people should not be asked about their immigration status when accessing the vaccine.
“They have access to the vaccine similar to everyone else,” she says. “This is a public health issue. We have to make sure that undocumented folks, immigrant communities, people who speak different languages, that everybody has access to the resources they need.”
Government agencies and outside organizations like TIRRC have been working to spread information about the vaccine to special populations, including undocumented immigrants.
Outreach has taken the form of Facebook Live events, virtual town halls and information campaigns led by Metro Councilmembers and other community leaders. Information about COVID-19 and how to get the vaccine has been translated locally to Spanish, Arabic, Kurdish, Burmese, Nepali and Somali in an effort to reach Nashvillians in their primary language. Metro is also planning vaccination strike teams to establish mobile vaccine distribution sites.
“We are working to make sure that vaccination sites are distributed equally across the city so that different communities have access close to where they live and that the hours of operation are also accessible,” Clerjeune says. “Nashville’s undocumented immigrant community makes up a huge portion of our population. If Nashville, and if Tennessee, is going to pull through this situation, everyone needs to be included in the effort, regardless of their immigration status.”
