Getting Creative To Reach Unvaccinated Latinos In Colorado

Fútbol, Flags And Fun: Getting Creative To Reach Unvaccinated Latinos In Colorado To close the vaccination gap among Latinos in Colorado, health workers are bringing the shot to neighborhoods and soccer games, and drawing on trusted networks of friends and family. NPR.org

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Bringing the mobile vaccine program to an international soccer match was the latest effort by the state of Colorado and its local partners to meet unvaccinated residents, wherever they are, rather than asking them to find the vaccine themselves.

Long gone are the days in early spring when vaccine appointments were snatched up the instant they became available, and health care workers worried about making sure patients were actually eligible under state and federal criteria for age and health status.

Colorado, and most of the nation, has now moved into a new phase involving targeted efforts and individual interactions and using trusted community influencers to convince the hesitant to get jabbed.

With about half of Colorado's 5.78 million population now fully immunized, the challenge cuts across all demographic groups. According to the state's vaccination dashboard, men are slightly more hesitant than women and rural residents have been more reluctant than urban dwellers. Younger Coloradans have been less likely to prioritize the shot compared to their elders.

But perhaps no group has been harder to get vaccinated than Coloradans who identify as Hispanic. Despite Hispanics making up more than 20 percent of the state population, only about 10 percent of the state's doses have gone to Hispanic residents, according to the state's vaccination dashboard.

The gap is not as wide nationally: Hispanics or Latinos make up 17.2 percent of the U.S. population, and 15.8% of people who have gotten at least one dose — and whose race/ethnicity is known — are Hispanic or Latino.

At first, the gap in Colorado seemed to be an issue involving adequate access to health care. Nearly 16 percent of Hispanic residents in the state are uninsured, according to a report from the Kaiser Family Foundation. That's more than double the rate for white Coloradans. That might still play a role, though the vaccine itself is free with no insurance requirement. With vaccine availability now widespread, health leaders are searching for ways to communicate its availability, and support greater acceptance of the message that the vaccine will allow the vaccinated to return to their pre-pandemic lives.

Denver has hit the 70 percent threshold for resident vaccination but some of its Latino neighborhoods are getting vaccinated at much lower rates, according to Dr. Lilia Cervantes, an associate professor in the department of medicine at Denver Health.

"There are some very high-risk neighborhoods where most of the community are first-generation or foreign-born individuals," said Cervantes. "And that is where we're seeing the highest disparities." ...