Venezuela Includes Foreign Refugees in COVID-19 Mass Vaccination Program

The Venezuelan National Commission for Refugees (CONARE), through its office in Guasdualito, Apure state, in coordination with the government, the mayor of the José María Romero Municipality and the Venezuelan Ministry of Health, carried out a COVID-19 mass vaccination day on June 18 for senior citizens in the state. Several refugees of Colombian and Mexican nationalities who live in Venezuela were vaccinated in this session.

Thanks to the cooperation of the governments of the Russian Federation and the People’s Republic of China, Venezuela has been able to launch the immunization program against COVID-19 in prioritized sectors such as health, education, and the elderly.

After getting her dose, a Colombian refugee applicant expressed her gratitude to the Bolivarian government. “I thank the Venezuelan people, especially the CONARE office, for taking me into consideration for the vaccination against COVID-19… I really feel fortunate for the support that Venezuela has given me,” she said.

Guasdualito launches vaccination day for senior citizens
On Friday, June 18, the mass vaccination program against COVID-19 began in the Guasdualito parish of José Antonio Paez Municipality in Apure, aimed at the elderly residents of the municipal region.

To date, over 5 thousand people have been immunized in this town, including adults over 60 years of age and those with underlying chronic diseases.

Luis Tolosa, government commissioner of Apure, stated that ”in the vaccination process there was no discrimination whatsoever due to political or religious reasons.”

The vaccination program in the state is being carried out through the organization and work of the regional government through Commissioner Tolosa and his working team.

Venezuela’s commitment to refugees
The Venezuelan government created the National Commission for Refugees in 2000 and with this the legal platform of refuge in Venezuela was built. The Article 69 of the Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, as well as chapter IV of Article 22 of the Organic Law on Refugees and Asylum Seekers (LORRA) which spells out the rights and obligations of refugees, states that “refugees shall enjoy in the territory of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela the same rights as foreigners, within the boundaries established in the Constitution and other laws of the Republic.”

The Venezuelan State is committed to guarantee the right to health of every person who enters the territory. The Commission is in charge of ensuring the fundamental rights of refugees and applicants for refugee status in Venezuela.

Featured image: A Mexican refugee being vaccinated in Apure state, Venezuela. Photo courtesy of MPPRE.

(MPPRE)

Translation: Orinoco Tribune

OT/JRE/SC