WELD COUNTY, Colo. — Through outreach and education, community leaders hope to get 1,000 Latinos vaccinated in Weld County during an equity clinic through Sunrise Community Health.
CEO Mitzi Moran told 9NEWS the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) would provide the 1,000 doses.
The equity clinic was postponed from Sunday, March 14 to Sunday, March 21. Individuals who already had appointments were automatically rescheduled.
"It's a cup half full for us because it was more opportunity to get the other couple hundred appointments scheduled," said Deb Suniga, communications manager for the Latino Coalition of Weld County.
As of Tuesday, more than 500 slots were filled. The clinic opens up appointments to Hispanics/Latinos who fall under Phase 1B.4 in the state's vaccine distribution plan. Those individuals become eligible for the vaccine beginning Friday, March 19.
Of the 91,978 vaccines administered, 7.4% have gone to Hispanics/Latinos, who make up 30% of Weld County's population.
"Unfortunately, our community has not been very good at doing outreach in multiple languages," said Rhonda Solis, vice president of the Latino Coalition of Weld County.
Solis and other community leaders are breaking the language barrier by disseminating information about the vaccine to the Hispanic and Latino community.
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Latinos Unidos of Greeley, the Immigrant and Refugee Center of Northern Colorado and the Hispanic Women of Weld County all partnered with Sunrise Community Health to host a vaccine equity clinic on March 21. The vaccines will be administered at the Monfort Family Clinic at 2930 11th Ave., in Evans.
"What we’re doing in collaboration with those groups is we’re getting out the information and education through posters, postcards, campaigns, even if we have to do the grassroots part of it and go door to door, we'll do that as well," said Suniga.
Moran said their clinics primarily serve people who struggle with access to affordable health care.
"I want to reassure people that Sunrise provides affordable access to all," Moran said. "Whether you have insurance or you don't have insurance, we want to serve you."
The pandemic has disproportionately affected communities of color across the nation, which is why vaccinating those communities is important to end the pandemic.
"We want to be really certain that we're paying attention to how we're distributing our vaccines," said Dr. Mark Wallace, chief medical officer at Sunrise Community Health. "If we don't bring it to our Latinos and other communities of color, we're not gonna get to our end goal of ending this pandemic."
As of Friday, 55 people signed up to receive the vaccine during the equity clinic. Appointments are required and can be made on the Sunrise Community Health website. You can also make an appointment by calling:
- 970-346-2587 for help in English
- 970-346-2589 for help in Spanish
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