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Life in a tent: A Somali migrant looks out of her improvised accommodation in Paris
Photo: CHRISTOPHE ARCHAMBAULT / AFP
It's a race against time and so far it doesn't even seem certain whether everyone will finish at all.
Millions of people in Europe have been vaccinated for weeks to stop the third wave of the corona pandemic.
But who receives a vaccination and when, often differs considerably from country to country.
While Great Britain has now vaccinated almost half of the adult population at least once, in EU countries such as France, Germany and Spain it has so far been less than 15 percent.
However, there are not only differences between countries - rifts are also opening up in European societies.
Because the Covid-19 virus not only endangers older citizens, the poor, the homeless and members of discriminated groups are often exposed to it without protection.
Last year the EU Commission named six groups that should be given special protection.
In addition to medical staff, previously ill and senior citizens, this also includes socio-economically disadvantaged people, prisoners and migrants in mass accommodation.
The list is "in no particular order," as the Commission emphasizes.
It is up to the Member States to determine who is to be counted among the disadvantaged.
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Waiting for protection: migrants in front of a vaccination center in Belgrade
Photo: Marko Djurica / REUTERS
But in almost all European countries there are hurdles that have made it difficult for those in particular need of protection to access the vaccines.
Sometimes it is missing social security numbers and registration addresses.
At other times, language barriers or invitations to vaccinations that can only be accepted with a computer or smartphone.
In some countries, on the other hand, vaccination is only given to those who first visit a family doctor.
It is often seemingly trivial that marginalized people lose their chance of vaccination - and continue to put them at risk of serious, potentially fatal illness.
Roma: many problems, little protection
Probably the most vulnerable groups in Europe are the Roma, the largest ethnic minority on the continent.
Even before the pandemic, her ten to twelve million relatives were suffering from social exclusion, poor health care and economic hardship.
The situation has worsened due to the corona pandemic.
In Romania and Bulgaria, aid organizations complain that the pandemic is "ethnicising" and that members of the Roma are being made scapegoats, even though they themselves are particularly threatened by precarious, cramped living conditions and a lack of medical help.
"Our people are dying like flies," warned the Hungarian Roma activist Aladar Horvath recently.
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Roma settlement in Bulgaria: In the pandemic, many complain about a lack of protection and increasing discrimination
Photo: Hristo Rusev / Getty Images
However, according to the European Roma Rights Center, the Roma have only been considered as a separate risk group for vaccinations in Slovakia.
Many NGOs currently fear a chain reaction: The loss of jobs, which are usually precarious anyway, and the lack of opportunities for children to take part in online lessons, therefore also exclude many families.
"We are just losing years here, we are losing the building work of the past decade," fears a Roma activist.
Without income and state aid, many of those affected are threatened with evictions or homelessness in the middle of the pandemic - and with it new danger.
The vaccinations could at least contain the health risks, but without official documents, health insurance and targeted communication it will be difficult.
And due to negative experiences with government authorities and a lack of education, say aid organizations, many Roma are currently hesitant to even get vaccinated.
Undocumented migrants: good intentions, deliberate exclusion
A lack of information and skepticism towards the authorities are also a challenge for vaccinating undocumented migrants.
Vaccination offers have so far differed considerably from country to country.
In nine EU countries, says the aid organization Picum, people without papers are also explicitly taken into account in the vaccination strategies.
"That is a decisive sign," says Alyna Smith, who coordinates the exchange between various NGOs in the health sector at Picum.
"These statements are a promise that health protection comes before everything else."
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Volunteers speak to homeless people in Brussels to count the number of people in need
Photo: Chloé Thôme / Bruss'Help
But the safety net has large gaps, so far only Western European ones such as Spain, Portugal, France, Italy and Finland are included.
In other countries there are clear reservations about opening the health system to people without a valid residence permit.
In Poland, the right-wing conservative government went one step further and stated that it would only allow people with a valid residence permit to be vaccinated.
A risky maneuver in the pandemic.
Homeless people: vague help, high hurdles
Homeless people are also particularly at risk in the pandemic, and numerous studies show a close connection between living conditions and the risk of infection.
Although there are hardly any reliable figures, the EU assumes that the number of homeless people has increased in 24 of 28 EU countries over the past decade.
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Refugee accommodation in Belgrade: A resident is vaccinated with the AstraZeneca vaccine
Photo: Marko Djurica / REUTERS
Here, too, the EU countries react differently: In Denmark, homeless people can recently be given priority in the vaccination sequence, but first have to see a doctor.
In Romania, after protests in mid-February, 300 people in need were vaccinated on the street at short notice.
In the UK, the government is also trying to help the homeless
vaccinate faster.
At the beginning of March, the British Vaccination Commission recommended avoiding any obstacles such as visiting a family doctor or showing an insurance number.
To reduce existing reservations, vaccinations are now also available in taxis, tents and community centers in the UK.
In Belgium there is now a consensus that it is not enough to just ask those affected to vaccinate.
According to current statistics, the number of homeless people in Brussels has increased by 27 percent since the last census in 2018.
So far, none of them have been specifically vaccinated, and the first appointments in emergency shelters will probably take place on April 20.
"There is a high wall between the neediest and the rest of society," says Frank Vanbiervliet of the "Bruss'Help" aid organization.
"We cannot allow ourselves to be treated differently, nor does the virus make any difference."
In order to better reach those in need, there is now an eight-person team that distributes multilingual brochures in accommodations such as the Hotel "Saint-Nicolas", arranges doctor's appointments and helps with the registration for a health card.
Here, too, the helpers are often thwarted by the bureaucracy.
No residence document is requested for the card itself.
But to get the health card, homeless people and migrants first have to register online.
However, many have no access to the Internet, complains Vanbiervliet.
In order to be able to organize the planned vaccinations, he will soon have a second team that will be out on the streets.
Because the usual second vaccination seems unrealistic for many people anyway, the goal is to vaccinate them at least once.
Vanbiervliet has high hopes for the program: "In case of doubt, a vaccination is better than no vaccination."
This contribution is part of the Global Society project
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