Tuesday, December 14, 2021
OFF PAGE ONE
East Oregonian
A9
Outreach:
Continued from Page A1
Another
s u r v e y,
conducted over the phone,
showed a higher percentage
of Hispanic people than white
people are vaccinated, he
said, but he was not confident
these numbers accurately
represents the entire county.
The best numbers, he said,
show Hispanic people are less
vaccinated than other groups.
Still, he said, the county is
closing the gap on this differ-
ence and more Hispanic
people are getting vaccinated.
The director gave reasons
for the disparity. For one, he
said, the difference between
ethnicities in vaccination rate
“started that way.” The virus
hit the Hispanic community
very hard, he said, infecting
workers in agriculture and
food processing, jobs people
cannot do at home.
Vaccines during the onset
of their rollout went to hospi-
tal workers, first responders
and teachers, he said, jobs
that tend to have more white
people.
There are other barriers to
vaccination among Hispanic
people, he explained, such as
wariness of a new vaccine,
distrust of government and a
language barrier.
As his department and
others have tried to address
issues of vaccination among
Hispanic people, the differ-
ence between ethnic groups is
closing, he said. Twenty-four
percent of all vaccinations
are being given to Hispanic
people, who represent 28% of
the population, he said.
The director credited the
work by community organi-
zations, which have educated
individuals and made vacci-
nations more available than
they had in the past. Vacci-
nation events, often staffed
by Spanish-speaking people,
are taking place. Also, several
local businesses have hosted
clinics for workers to get
vaccinated while remaining
on the clock, Fiumara said.
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
A sign in Spanish and English advertises a COVID-19 vaccine clinic Friday,
Dec. 10, 2021, at New Horizons drug and alcohol rehabilitation center in
Hermiston.
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
Jose Garcia streams a video of a COVID-19 vaccination clinic on Facebook
Live on Friday, Dec. 10, 2021, to get out word of the event in Hermiston.
Chamber of
Commerce
PO Box 1 • 101 Olson Rd. • Boardman, OR 97818 • 541-481-3014
www.boardmanchamber.org • email: info@boardmanchamber.org
This newsletter proudly
sponsored by the
following businesses:
Worries with
vaccination
At the New Horizons
event, Garcia agreed with
Fiumara’s assessment of
barriers to vaccination. He
added, though, there are other
concerns, including immigra-
tion.
Some people, he said, do
not want to get vaccinated
because they are undocu-
mented. They worry about
putting their names down on
lists the government can track
and later use to deport them.
Also, Garcia said, many
people are in the process of
gaining citizenship and they
worry that receiving any
aid at all, even vaccination
services, will cancel their
efforts to become U.S. citi-
zens.
Sergio Gonzalez, a nurse
at the clinic, said he has been
to other clinics, some draw
more than a hundred people
and others attract only a hand-
ful, and spoken with people
about health and immigra-
tion concerns. He expressed
confidence that immigration
officials were not tracking
people at vaccination events.
“The information is
private,” he said.
Andrea Odle, Oregon
Health Authority assistant
regional COVID-19 testing
and vaccine coordinator, also
was on hand. A fluent Spanish
speaker, she said it is import-
ant for people to receive
information about the vaccine
in their first language. When
individuals hear information
in the language they know
best, she said, they are more
likely to understand and trust
it.
Another nurse at the
event, Christine Daniel, said
she hopes people will over-
come their concerns about the
vaccination.
“It’s very important for
health issues,” she said.
“People are getting sick.
People are dying. We want to
get back to normal, and vacci-
nations will help us get there.”
If you are a Boardman Chamber member
and would like to help sponsor this
Chamber newsletter page, call 541-564-4538
or email aworkman@eastoregonian.com