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News about coronavirus in Florida and around the world is constantly emerging. It's hard to stay on top of it all but Health News Florida can help. Our responsibility is to keep you informed, and to help discern what’s important for your family as you make what could be life-saving decisions.

Advocate: Residency Requirement Makes Vaccines Inaccessible For Vulnerable Communities

Thomas Hansler, 54, receives a COVID-19 vaccination from Yaquelin De La Cruz at the Research Centers of America in Hollywood, Florida.
Chandan Khanna
/
AFP via Getty Images
People who want to get the vaccine in Florida need to show proof they live in the state: a state-issued ID or a document showing their name and a Florida address.

Aidil Oscariz, a community engagement and policy consultant with Catalyst Miami, says requiring proof of residency is a public health issue and should be eliminated.

Community advocates in South Florida are calling for the state to eliminate residency requirements to get a COVID-19 vaccine.

People who want to get the vaccine in Florida need to show proof they live in the state: a state-issued ID or a document showing their name and a Florida address.

Aidil Oscariz, a community engagement and policy consultant with the advocacy group Catalyst Miami, said the residency requirement excludes marginalized people from getting vaccinated.

"A lot of people want to get vaccinated and have been unable to due to this requirement and not being able to produce those documents," Oscariz said.

Oscariz said many migrant workers and out-of-status or undocumented immigrants don’t have bank accounts, and people throughout the state live in homes where their names are not on a lease or on a utility bill.

"These are a lot of the same people that have been doing frontline work, that are essential workers, that have been exposing themselves to the coronavirus since the beginning," Oscariz said.

Oscariz is calling for the proof of residency requirement to be eliminated.

"This is a larger public health issue," Oscariz said. "We want as many people as possible to get vaccinated so that we can all be safe, and our economy can recover."

Copyright 2021 WLRN 91.3 FM. To see more, visit WLRN 91.3 FM.

Andrea Perdomo is a reporter for WGCU News. She started her career in public radio as an intern for the Miami-based NPR station, WLRN. Andrea graduated from Florida International University, where she was a contributing writer for the student-run newspaper, The Panther Press, and also a member of the university's Society of Professional Journalists chapter.