Exploring the barriers and facilitators migrants face in accessing COVID-19 vaccines in Malaysia

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The findings from this study speak to a broader challenge in global health: how public health systems engage with marginalised and non-citizen populations during crises. Migrants in Malaysia were willing to be vaccinated, yet structural exclusions—legal, digital, and social—turned a public good into a guarded gate. This raises critical questions about how pandemic preparedness intersects with immigration policy, technological governance, and trust in public institutions. Rather than treating migrant-inclusive health as exceptional or temporary, we argue that it should be institutionalised. Civil society’s role in bridging gaps was vital, but stop-gap measures are not a substitute for structural reforms. Trusted intermediaries, mobile delivery models, and decoupling health access from immigration control must become permanent features of an inclusive health system. Importantly, the securitisation of public health undermines the very objectives it seeks to achieve. Fear and exclusion do not protect populations—they fragment them. Our study underscores the need to reimagine public health as a rights-based endeavour, grounded in dignity, access, and equity for all, regardless of status. The next pandemic will not wait for bureaucratic exceptions. A resilient system is one that includes everyone from the start.

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