Displaced people with no healthcare card can now register for vaccination

The Department of Health has launched a website aimed at migrants residing legally in Catalonia currently with no healthcare card or no possibility of getting one so that they can register themselves to receive a coronavirus vaccine.

Contacted by Catalan News, sources of the health ministry clarify that by 'displaced people', as stated in the form, they are referring to those people from outside Spain living legally in Catalonia without a CatSalut card, not to migrants and refugees living in Catalonia in an irregular legal residency situation.

The same sources say irregular migrants are also taken into account in the whole Covid-19 crisis through other channels, and with the help of NGOs such as the Red Cross. They also remind that vulnerable people is one of the identified groups given priority in the vaccine rollout.

The website, which is available in Catalan, Spanish, English and French, can be accessed at salutweb.gencat.cat/ca/forms/cens-sense-rca-21.

In order to join the waiting list, one must fill the different boxes in the form: country of origin, year of birth, NIE or passport, name, first surname, second surname (if any), town of residence, phone number with the country code, and email address (not essential).

Health authorities will contact those on the waiting list to arrange a date for the vaccination.

Accessing the public health system

All of Catalonia's residents have the right to access the public health system, regardless of their residency status. 

For further details on how the Catalan healthcare system works, click here.

Under usual circumstances, foreign residents must first register with their local council 'padró' by demonstrating where they live (with a housing contract, a letter from someone on the contract or a utility bill, for example) and then apply for a CatSalut health card at their local Primary Healthcare Center (CAP). Now, because of the public health crisis, the card can be applied for directly online. 

Lower-income foreign residents who are not registered in the Spanish social security system usually must apply for public coverage here, but as a result of the Covid-19 crisis, they are now requested to do so through the generic online application form.

Everyone will be provided with essential medical care in the event of an emergency, but if you're not yet registered in the system this could incur some additional costs for you.