Most labor migrants are not vaccinated against covid-19

Hundreds of thousands of labor migrants in the Netherlands are currently not eligible for vaccination against Covid-19 because they are not registered with the municipality where they reside. This was reported by the newspaper Trouw in cooperation with the journalistic investigative collective Investico.

Foreign seasonal workers are not included in the national vaccination program, even though many pay their mandatory health insurance. Only people registered by municipalities in the Basic Registration of Persons (BRP) are invited to get a shot. Labor migrants are usually not registered with a municipality because their stay in the Netherlands is typically short-term.

Medical care providers say that labor migrants should be vaccinated against corona because they often live together with multiple people and are therefore at higher risk. They refer to the situation last year at several slaughterhouses in Germany, the Netherlands, and Belgium.

A logistics employee at Schiphol recently pointed out that neither he nor the people he lives with in an employer-provided housing are registered with a municipality. Only a few have a DigiD (digital identification) for access to many government services.

Trade union FNV says it finds it unacceptable that this group is excluded from the Covid-19 vaccine. The union will urge the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport (VWS) to pay attention to this, said vice-chair Kitty Jong to Trouw. “These people often work in crucial professions and deserve the same protection as everyone else. It simply shows that they are still too often seen as second-class citizens in the Netherlands.”