Report: Foreign Nationals Traveling to U.S. to Get Coronavirus Vaccine Before Americans

Foreign nationals from a number of countries, but mostly Mexico, are flocking to the United States to get the vaccine for the Chinese coronavirus even as nearly 90 percent of Americans have yet to receive their first dose.

A report in the Washington Post detailed how likely thousands of foreign nationals are traveling to the U.S. to get the coronavirus vaccine, cutting in line before about 280 million Americans who have not yet been vaccinated.

The Post reports:

One of Mexico’s best-known TV hosts sat in a car, masked, looking straight ahead while a needle was plunged into his bare upper arm. Juan Jose “Pepillo” Origel was the latest Mexican national to get the coronavirus vaccine — by coming to the United States. [Emphasis added]

…

“I’ve known lots of Mexicans, thousands, who have gone to get the vaccine in the U.S.,” he added. “And nothing happened. In San Antonio, Laredo, all along the Mexican border, Mexicans are going to get the vaccine.” [Emphasis added]

As noted by the Post, Center for Disease Control (CDC) officials have not set any guidelines on who is and is not eligible for coronavirus vaccination in terms of an individual’s immigration status. The policy, or lack of, has meant that likely thousands of illegal aliens in the U.S. have already received the vaccine.

Florida has set their own guidelines to prevent “vaccine tourism” by restricting requiring those who apply for the vaccine to provide records showing part-time or full-time residency.

“You got to live here, you know, either full time or at least part-time,” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) said late last month.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) has said the state’s vaccine supply is for Texans only. California, on the other hand, has opened its vaccine supply to state residents, foreign nationals flying in to get the vaccine, and illegal aliens living in the state.

Vaccine tourism to the U.S. has been encouraged, in many cases, by foreign leaders. A health official in Mexico, for instance, told Mexicans to “go ahead, do it.”

Another official in Mexico said “undoubtedly, we are talking about thousands” of Mexicans traveling to the U.S. to get the vaccine.

Today, there are an estimated 45 million foreign-born residents living in the U.S., accounting for nearly 14 percent of the nation’s population. Since 1970, the foreign-born population has nearly tripled primarily due to the annual admission of 1.2 million legal immigrants and another 1.4 million foreign visa workers.

John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jbinder@breitbart.com. Follow him on Twitter here.