Across the continent, reaching vulnerable populations on the margins of society is a challenge. In Brussels, the authorities are hoping mobile outreach teams can help.

By Monika Pronczuk

BRUSSELS — For people living on the margins of society, from the homeless to undocumented workers, the coronavirus has long posed a heightened risk. Yet here in the European Union’s de facto capital, many are terrified of getting vaccinated.

“People said it would paralyze me,” said Rouguiatou Koita, a 32-year-old immigrant from Guinea and mother of four, including 8-month-old twins. “I was very scared,” she added. “I didn’t know what would happen to my children.”

But then a team of health and social workers visited the homeless shelter in Brussels where she lives, and a friend got a vaccine shot and was fine. Ms. Koita was convinced, and on June 21, she was inoculated, too.

As the vaccination drive in the European Union has gained speed, with more than half of the adult population now fully inoculated, governments are stepping up efforts to reach marginalized populations, including people like Ms. Koita. At the same time, they are redoubling efforts to combat disinformation about vaccines.

Widespread vaccination, epidemiologists say, is the only way out of the pandemic, but reaching everybody — including those on the edges of mainstream society — is not easy. In the European Union, there are an estimated 4.8 million undocumented people, about 1 percent of the population. And they tend to fill jobs at increased risk of exposure, such as in the domestic care and hospitality sectors.

The European Union, like the United States and other wealthy places, is now in the fortunate position of not struggling for supply. But each country in the bloc has devised its own plan, and the arrangements vary widely in terms of how accessible vaccines are.

In the Netherlands, medical teams administer the shots directly in homeless shelters, and anyone can book a vaccination over the phone without a national registration number. Portugal has created an online platform dedicated to undocumented people, though people signing up for a shot still need to provide an address, birth date, phone number and nationality. In France, since late May, no documents have been required to sign up for a vaccine.

In Belgium, navigating between local, regional and federal administrations was a challenge even before the global health crisis.

The original plan of the federal Belgian health authority, to be implemented starting in December, stated that vaccinations would be based on each resident’s home address and employment status, according to an overview in the medical journal The Lancet. Using those criteria, reaching people with irregular jobs, temporary living arrangements or no documentation was a problem.

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