Abstract
Dear Editor, we read the article entitled “Innovative Cohort Process to Minimize COVID-19 Infection for Migrant Farmworkers During Travel to Iowa” (Johnson et al., 2022). They mentioned that “With support in place from the top down, employers, workers, and health care providers will be able to prioritize the management of infectious diseases and the needs of essential workers (p. 17).” The migrant worker community has been described as a “hotspot” for the COVID-19 epidemic in various places, including Southeast Asia (Chookajorn et al., 2021). We agree that it is necessary to minimize COVID-19 infection for migrant workers.
Migrant laborers usually have a culture that is different from the local residents. They frequently have a low socioeconomic status, making it harder for them to receive local health care. Migrant workers are more likely to contract COVID-19 when there is a shortage of effective health care (Suphanchaimat, Tuangratananon, et al., 2021). COVID-19 outbreaks have occurred in migrant worker communities in several nations with migrant worker communities (Suphanchaimat, Nittayasoot, et al., 2021; Suphanchaimat, Tuangratananon, et al., 2021). Furthermore, many migrant workers entered countries illegally to work, and there is no official record of their presence for public scrutiny. Concerning the aforementioned issues, detailed planning for COVID-19 management among migrants is difficult and requires competent management.
In our view, vaccination is the most efficient COVID-19 prevention method currently available. The immunization of migrant workers is difficult because significant barriers must be overcome for the vaccination to be successful. For example, many migrant workers are undocumented which means they are not covered by vaccination programs. Furthermore, migrant workers may face linguistic and cultural obstacles, making it harder to give information about the benefits of immunization. In many settings, vaccines are primarily given to the local native population, while the migrant/minority population is sometimes overlooked (Suphanchaimat, Tuangratananon, et al., 2021; Teerawattananon et al., 2021). Yet, according to a recent study from Indochina, vaccinations for migrant laborers are extremely cost-effective (Suphanchaimat, Nittayasoot, et al., 2021; Suphanchaimat, Tuangratananon, et al., 2021). It is suggested that migrant workers should not only get priority for vaccination, but also receive vaccination at no cost as a strategy to increase coverage (Suphanchaimat, Tuangratananon, et al., 2021).
