FILE - In this Monday, March 8, 2021 file photo, a health worker shows the media how she prepares a dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine to be administered to a patient at a vaccination center set up in front of Rome's Termini central station. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino, File)
OGDEN, Utah – Community activists in Ogden are hoping to convince more members of the Latino community to get the COVID-19 vaccine. They’re hosting two bilingual vaccine clinics over the next two weekends, and they hope to attract people who have been hesitant to get vaccinated.
There is a massive amount of distrust among minority communities when it comes to public health, and a lot of myths still swirling around.
“’The vaccine is being used to experiment on communities of color.’ That has been the biggest myth we’ve heard so far,” says Maria Montes with Comunidades Unidas.
Montes says when COVID-19 first arrived in Utah, members of the Latino population were disproportionately sickened by the virus. She believes the state was slow in giving information about the spread of the disease and resources available to help to Spanish-speaking Utahns.
(Members of Comunidades Unidas hosting a vaccine clinic in Salt Lake County. Photo courtesy Maria Montes)
Comunidades Unidas joined with several other community groups to host vaccine clinics for the Latino community all over the Salt Lake Valley, and Montes says they’ve been very successful. She says members of that community may be more likely to attend the clinic when it’s hosted by someone other than a government agency.
Along with the vaccines, Montes says they’ll be educating the public about slowing the spread of the virus, and where they can turn if they need assistance.
She says, “For community members, it has been so important to hear that from their religious leaders, from their own community leaders and from the people they know and trust.”
More community-based clinics happening in #Ogden. Please let your neighbors, friends and family members know and help them make an appointment!
Posted by Weber-Morgan Health Department on Tuesday, April 6, 2021
The first clinic is scheduled for April 10 at the Ogden City School District building. The next is set for April 17, at the Second Baptist Church in Ogden. Weber-Morgan Health Department Spokesperson Lori Buttars says they want to improve their outreach to minority groups, and they’ll take whatever help they can get.
“We’re using our community partners to do that,” she says.
Buttars says they want to ensure members of their Latino community get clear, accurate information about the vaccine.
“There’s been a long history of [mis]trust with medical issues and getting services, as a whole, to some of our communities and this is something we know we need to correct,” says Buttars.
COVID-19 coronaviruses transmitted from person to person. It is a virus that is similar to the common cold and the flu. So, to prevent it from spreading:
Utah’s Coronavirus Information
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Utah Coronavirus Information Line – 1-800-456-7707
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Commonly asked questions, World Health Organization
