Studies from several countries suggest that COVID-19 vaccination rates are lower among migrants compared to the general population. This is also the case in Japan and several factors may be contributing to making it difficult for migrants to receive COVID-19 vaccines. These include language and social barriers, socioeconomic status, and the complexity of procedures before vaccination. While each municipality sends a vaccination voucher to all eligible people on the Basic Resident Register, those who are not on the registry need to request a municipality office to issue a voucher, which is often a tough hurdle for those with unstable residency status. Particularly, undocumented migrants face a series of challenges such as demonstration of identification and proof of residence and being reported to immigration authorities by municipality officers. Whereas some municipalities prioritized public health, accommodating the specific needs of migrants who are not on the registry, others were less responsive. 

To support these migrants in accessing COVID-19 vaccines, the COVID-19 Vaccination Information Center for International Citizen (COVIC) was established in September 2021 by Citizen's Network for Global Activities (CINGA), in collaboration with Migrants' Neighbor Network & Action (MINNA) which is comprised of the Bureau of International Health Cooperation of the National Center for Global Health and Medicine (NCGM), Services for Health in Asian African Regions (SHARE), Our SDGs Task Force for Foreigners, and the Institute of Developing Economies (IDE-JETRO). 

COVIC receives phone calls from migrants and provides support in multiple languages in cooperation and coordination with the nationwide network of International Exchange Associations and NGOs. During the 6 months, COVIC assisted over 400 people from over 20 countries living in 20 prefectures. There were a wide variety of reasons for phone calls. Examples include how to get vaccinated for an undocumented migrant, what to do when the caller threw away the envelope with the vaccination voucher, what to do when the caller was undocumented and in hiding for 20 years but now would like to be vaccinated due to old age, and other vaccine-specific questions. The COVIC not only assessed client needs, provided information, and referred clients to a specific service, but also served as a caseworker by contacting relevant stakeholders such as municipality offices, International Exchange Associations and NGOs to find a solution, together with or on behalf of the client. COVIC had technical supporters who have expertise in health, the municipality support system for migrants, and immigration law and administrative procedures. COVIC provided individualized support that the government or municipalities could not provide and accompanied many clients throughout the process until their vaccination is assured.