Health
New Jersey Town Pushes to Black, Asian and Latin Communities
In Passaic, bilingual city workers are urged to visit older Latino people who do not have internet access and get vaccinated.
A few miles away, Bergenfield is preparing for a blitzkrieg in public campaigns in English, Spanish and Filipino, and is looking for immigrant health care workers to help manage the shots.
At Parisaise Park, the autonomous region receptionist Sam Choy carries his mobile phone 24 hours a day to answer questions from Korean-American residents regarding testing and vaccination. He receives phone calls and text messages by 11pm and even knows about Queens flushing, which has a significant Korean community.
When he talks to the caller, they remind him of his parents who have returned to Korea.
“Some people can’t get information because they can’t speak English at all,” said Choi Hee-seop (38), who estimates that he has answered about 400 calls since the autonomous region opened the COVID-19 hotline in March. ) Said. And if you need help from the Korean city hall, I’d like to get help. ”
vaccine:Starting February 11, CVS will offer the COVID vaccine at several pharmacies throughout New Jersey.
The biggest blow
As New Jersey advances in the rollout of bumpy vaccines, local governments have been hit hardest by the pandemic, but have been handed to blacks, Latin Americans, and Asians, who have had the fewest vaccinations ever coveted. I am competing to reach out.
As of Wednesday, New Jersey had distributed about 838,000 doses of vaccine, according to state figures. So far, 48% have been given to white residents, 6% to Asians, 5% to Hispanics, and 3% to black recipients. However, these numbers may not give you a complete picture. 38% of the shots were classified as “Other” or “Unknown”.
by 2019 Census Estimate, 68% of the state’s population is white, 13.5% is black, and 9.5% is Asian. About 20% claim to be Hispanic or Latin, a category that includes multiple races.
Disparities are not unique to New Jersey. An Associated Press analysis of 17 states and two cities that released a racial breakdown found that blacks in these regions received vaccines at a rate below the share of the general population. Hispanics were also behind, according to AP, but the Latin community tended to be younger and many vaccines were reserved for the elderly, which was close to expectations.
Any gap is disastrous, as non-white Americans are infected at a higher rate than white Americans. 5.8 million Washington Post analysis Those who tested positive for the virus from early March to mid-October also found that blacks, Asians, Native Americans, and Hispanics died much more often than whites.
State, county and local authorities say they are fighting language barriers, inadequate access to vaccines in minority neighborhoods, and the digital divide, which can prevent some people from receiving important information. Stated. There is also distrust among some groups based on past discrimination by medical institutions, and some migrants who lack legal status are afraid of the government.
A November survey of 958 New Jersey residents by Newark’s social justice organization, Project Ready, found that 45% of Hispanics, 39% of blacks, and 37% of white residents did not agree to be vaccinated. Said.
Group CEO Che’Nelle MacLeod said public relations campaigns and focused outreach would be key. Last year’s US census campaign took place in phone banking, text messages, social media posts, and mailers, and could be a model, she said.
“They took every opportunity to communicate with the entire audience so that they could understand the importance of the census, and education on vaccines is no exception,” McCloud said. “Communication must be broken down in amateur language.”
In New Jersey, COVID vaccination is being rolled out in stages. Shots are currently only available to healthcare professionals, first responders, people over 65, and people over 16 with certain medical conditions. However, even qualified people have difficulty securing reservations due to the lack of vaccines.
Still, McCloud said local governments need to actively reach out to the minority community about the importance of getting vaccinated.
“We need to learn from the community. What makes them hesitate?” And “turn the story around”, she said. “This is an exercise that you start before you get one or more vaccines in your area because it takes time to turn history around.”
Studies show that distrust of vaccines by Black and Latin Americans revolves around past policies that appear to prey on their communities.
Some have pointed out that he worked at Tuskegee University in the 1930s. Tuskegee University secretly studied the progression of syphilis in 600 black men without treatment. Meanwhile, in the 1950s, Puerto Rico conducted the first large-scale human trial of oral contraceptives, but female participants said they were part of a clinical trial that could cause side effects. It wasn’t done.
Other slip-ups:New Jersey officials promise to help those who did not receive a second appointment for the COVID vaccine
Legacy of doubt
The legacy of disbelief is still felt. Lodi’s Marta Rivas works at Bloomfield’s clinic, but declined when she was offered a shot at work. Rivas said she was wary of the rapid development and approval of the vaccine.
Born in Nicaragua and raised in El Salvador, Rivas said, “I’m afraid to get vaccinated because I feel I don’t fully understand it. Rather, I just wait.” “It may change my mind in the future, but it’s too early now and it’s too early to get vaccinated.”
Project Ready’s McCloud said she was one of the early suspects. Similarly, however, she was convinced by conversations with leaders of the city and community of Newark, including those who participated in one of the vaccine trials.
Passaic Mayor Hector Lola, whose population is about 75% Hispanic, said he worked for weeks to build public confidence in the vaccine and was very successful thanks to the help of medical professionals who spoke with the community. It was. However, he added that the city was at a standstill due to a lack of vaccines.
“Now they say they don’t know if we have enough vaccine, and now I’m in demand,” he said. “It only increases distrust from the community who can’t afford to take a holiday to find out if they can be vaccinated.”
While they waited for more doses, Lola and his staff contacted community organizations that interacted with the immigrant community, informing them that residents could register on the state’s website and book when the vaccine arrived. It was. The website informs people when they are eligible for vaccination, but does not allow them to make reservations.
At Parishase Park, Koreans make up almost half of the population. The Central American community is also growing. Mayor Chris Chung said laptop-armed autonomous region employees are going to seniors’ homes to help residents sign up for vaccines online. The receptionist, Hee-seop Choi, is also helping people.
Chung said he plans to distribute more information during biweekly food distribution in libraries and social media, but acknowledges that the scope of these methods is limited.
“We can advertise as much as we can on social media, but these are some of the challenges we face because of the large number of poor families who have access to our website,” he said.
The borough has not yet distributed the vaccine, but Mr Chung said the borough is said to take some doses in the near future.
“There is no tentative date, but it is said. There are many seniors who have called,” he said.
Arvin Amatorio, Mayor of Bergenfield, said he received a call from a member of the Filipino immigrant community working in health care who volunteered to inoculate residents when the vaccine arrived. An American Community Survey estimates from the US Census that nearly one-third of the 27,000 residents of the autonomous region are Hispanic and more than a quarter are Asian.
“It’s very important that all the information reaches an underserved community, and it’s very important that we vaccinate a large population,” he said. “These are traditionally people who don’t come out openly and claim the benefits they deserve.”
240 languages
Authorities are also trying to reach out to non-English-speaking New Jersey citizens.
The State Health Department’s COVID-19 Information Hub includes a drop-down option for translating into Spanish, and its vaccination page has fact sheets and information in several different languages.
According to spokeswoman Donna Roysner, the ministry’s Vaccine Call Center trains bilingual agents and speaks more than 240 languages, including Arabic, Chinese, Mandarin, Hindi, Korean, Tagalog and Yiddish. Translators also have access to language service providers.
At Fairloan, Joyce Atkinson is worried about when her 82-year-old mother, Mercedes Lindao, born in Ecuador, will be vaccinated. Lindao, who lives with her daughter, is bedridden with Parkinson’s disease. She recovered from COVID-19 in December after being hospitalized for 5 days. Atkinson, who was also infected with COVID-19, contacted his mother’s doctor, but said he was still unsure when vaccination would be available.
“I think they’re at home, the idea they never go out,” Atkinson said. “But the people around them do. Maybe I took it home, maybe my sister, my son, my husband, I know, how do we get it? I don’t know. ”
The state health bureau’s Roycener said distribution activities would include mobile options to reach vulnerable people like Lindao once additional vaccine use and increased supply were approved.
Monsy Alvarado is an immigration reporter at NorthJersey.com. Subscribe or activate your digital account now for unlimited access to the latest news on one of the hottest issues in our state and country.
Email: [email protected]
twitter: @monsyalvarado
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