President Joe Biden's administration is reversing a long-standing Customs and Border Protection (CBP) policy that was scrutinized by public health officials.
Migrants being held in federal facilities at the U.S.-Mexico border will be offered the influenza vaccination for the first time this year, Dr. Pritesh Gandhi, the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) chief medical officer, told CBS News on Monday.
The new policy is part of the Biden administration's more humanitarian-based approach to immigration issues—a significant departure from former President Donald Trump's hardline stance on immigration. The Trump administration maintained a policy barring migrants from accessing the flu vaccine despite health officials warning against it.
Gandhi described offering the flu vaccine to migrants being held by CBP as a "basic step" to "protect multiple communities at once," CBS News reported.
"For us, this was just a logistical challenge. But the public health and clinical rationale was evident from day one," Gandhi added.
So far, more than 24,000 migrants in CBP facilities have received the flu vaccine since they began offering it on September 28. Meanwhile, CBP continues to vaccinate an average of 1,000 people per day, according to the DHS' chief medical officer.
Fernando García, executive director of Border Network for Human Rights, told Newsweek on Monday afternoon that the Biden administration's shift is a step in the right direction, but more needs to be done to ensure migrants are receiving adequate healthcare.
"This is good. I mean, this is about public health," he said, describing the move as a "big step."
Still, he said CBP should be allocating more sources to provide both preventative and emergency health care to migrants. He added that stronger access to health care and vaccines would help prevent migrant deaths in the facilities.
"I think there's much more to do so far in revamping the way we're dealing with immigrants in a more humanitarian way," he said.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends everyone six months or older to receive the vaccination, which can come as either a shot or nasal spray. The CDC says the flu vaccine prevents millions of people from becoming ill from the virus each year.
"Vaccination to prevent flu and its potentially serious complications is particularly important for people who are at higher risk of developing serious flu complications," the CDC advises on its website.
Flu Outbreaks Struck CBP Facility, but Trump Administration Defended Policy
Calls for CBP to offer the flu vaccination to migrants in its facilities—where people are often kept in tight quarters and have close contact with each other—grew after three children died from the virus in a six-month period.
The virus' victims included an 8-year-old boy from Guatemala in December 2018, as well as a 2-year-old and 16-year-old boy who died in May 2019, according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in an April 2020 report.
Amid these deaths, advocates pushed the Trump administration to offer the flu vaccine to migrants in DHS facilities to prevent further flu outbreaks. Congressional Hispanic Caucus chair Joaquin Castro said in 2019 that offering the vaccine is "the basic thing for people who are ill or could get ill."
"This is a matter of life and death whether the administration is willing to administer this flu shot," he added.
The CDC also recommended migrants to receive the flu vaccine, but CBP allegedly rejected its suggestion, The Washington Post reported in November 2019.
Still, Trump doubled down on the policy, refusing to offer migrants the vaccine. The CBP said that migrants were not intended to be held for more than 72 hours in its facilities—though the agency acknowledged that migrants are often held longer than the 72 hour goal.
Newsweek reached out to the DHS for comment.
Updated 10/24/2022 1:21 p.m. ET: This article was updated with comment from Fernando García, executive director of Border Network for Human Rights.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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