Not in health system? Private health insurance? You can now get vaccinated!

Residents of the Canary Islands of Al ages who aren’t registered in the health service and don’t have a blue health card, can now go to their nearest Health Centre with their passport, residencia/TIE document and empadronamiento,  to register and enter the vaccination list. This includes those with private health insurance and an EU health card.

According to the Ministry of Health of the Canary Islands there are up to 280,000 people of different nationality that live in the archipelago, and many are not registered and feel as though they have been ‘left out’ of the process or have been inadequately informed of the situation.

With the vaccination plan now moving forward quickly, and because the Government has always said that everyone will have the option to be inoculated, they are now in a position to process and register people that are affected by this.

In a statement the Ministry of Health says that in order to be vaccinated, the foreign population residing in the Canary Islands who are not registered in the health service, can do so now, a procedure that once completed will allow you to enter the lists to receive any of the available vaccines, according to your age group: Pfizer, Moderna, Janssen or AstraZeneca.

Here at Canarian Weekly, we have received hundreds of massages and emails asking, and complaining, about this situation, which we have replied to as many of as possible, and ensured people not to worry because they will be vaccinated, it was just a case of when. Thousands of the people in the islands could be affected by this situation, and can now get in the system and get vaccinated.

In addition, the Ministry of Health themselves highlighted the difficulty in contacting this sector when not registered, so have had to negotiate with other administrations for a wider list of registered inhabitants, hence the paperwork you are required to take with you.

The Chief of the Epidemiology Section, Amos García, the most accurate in his answer, pointed out that “obviously, if foreigners residing in the Islands have a health card, they will be called in because we have them identified and located, and they will be vaccinated alongside everyone else. The problem occurs with those who do not have any type of health card, who have exclusively private health insurance, and that is when the colleagues in Primary Care are unaware of their existence. Therefore, they have to contact the health centre closest to their residence and indicate that they are living in the Islands to be vaccinated, and advise of any health conditions they may have.”