Vaccination Is Important to Protect Migrant Communities But Should Be Part of a Multifaceted Approach

Authors’ response to letter regarding manuscript “Innovative Cohort Process . . . ”

We agree with our commenters that migrant worker communities across the world experience many barriers to vaccination (and other protective measures) and coordinated planning is needed to better protect these groups. Vaccination of migrant workers is one critical tool to protect workers from COVID-19 as well as other infectious diseases.

In the United States, during the intervention described in our article, vaccinations for COVID-19 were not yet available. Later, as COVID-19 vaccines were developed and approved, the U.S. states varied in their approach to prioritization of occupational or other groups for vaccination. Once vaccines were approved and migrant farmworkers were able to receive them, vaccination campaigns for these workers also experienced practical barriers in accessing vaccine, coordinating with local hospitals and public health departments, arranging transportation and interpretation, and minimizing worker concerns about immigration or visa status. In our view, Proteus demonstrated continued commitment to agricultural workers and employers in its innovative delivery strategies to keep migrant workers and their families safe even before vaccinations were available, and subsequently vaccinated many migrant and seasonal farmworkers. However, we emphasize that while vaccination for COVID-19 and other diseases should be a priority, we need a multifaceted approach because migrants have multifaceted barriers to care.

Health care can only be equitable when we can adapt and respond in ways to minimize the impact of the population’s unique challenges, and as our commenters also point out, careful planning and coordination for different migrant communities will be important for protecting public health.