Alleviate Anxiety in Hispanic Communities
Some states report higher vaccination rates among Hispanics than white and black residents, which Bibbins-Domingo says fits in with surveys showing high enthusiasm for vaccination among Hispanics. It also suggests that some of the reported barriers may have been more effectively addressed in these states, she said.
Paul Berry, chairman of the Virginia Latino Advisory Board, attributes part of Virginia’s success to targeted public relations. The state and certain counties also increased Spanish-speaking resources to encourage enrollments.
The connection to each community can’t be an afterthought, said Diego Abente, president and CEO of Casa de Salud in St. Louis, a healthcare provider focused on immigrant communities. Community buy-in, effective use of social media and voice programming from the start are essential, he said. Hispanics have a higher vaccination rate than whites in Missouri.
But nationally, a lack of transportation, the inability to get off work to get a vaccine, and concerns about documentation and privacy have dampened acceptance among Hispanics, according to experts.
“For me, it’s more about access to health care,” said Berry. “If you don’t live near health care, you will immediately shake it off. “I can’t get this vaccination. I will miss the job. ‘”
To ease anxiety among Idaho farm workers who may belong to families with mixed immigration status, public health workers emphasized the message that documentation is not required, said Monica Schoch-Spana, a senior researcher at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. She led the CommuniVax project to increase adoption among black, Hispanic and indigenous communities.
It is also important to entrust the administration of vaccines to trustworthy institutions, said Schoch-Spana: “Is it a familiar place, does it feel safe and is it easy to get to?”
The efforts of the federal government have placed locations in underserved districts. About 60% of shots at the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s vaccination stations and community health centers were given to people of color, federal health officials said this week.
Incomplete data collection
The CDC data is still lacking racial or ethnicity information for nearly 69 million people vaccinated – or 44% – despite federal officials promising to improve outdated systems to better inform their response.
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