Our people were left behind | Low vaccination rates among Travis Co. Latinos not surprising to advocates
The Travis County Latino community makes up almost 34% of the county s population but accounts for just 19% of vaccinations. Author: Mari Salazar (KVUE) Updated: 11:13 PM CDT May 13, 2021
AUSTIN, Texas Vaccination rates for Austin s Latino community are alarming to some advocates, but they said it s not surprising. The Austin Latino Coalition said throughout the entire pandemic, help was lacking from local government to vaccine minority populations. The coalition s leader, Paul Saldaña, said the State of Texas recently gave them resources to vaccinate more people. They actually appointed providers and contractors to our coalition. So for the last month, we have been providing vaccines to our hard-to-reach vulnerable populations, specifically in the areas of ZIP codes that have been most disproportionately impacted, said Saldaña.
Covid-19 News: Live Updates - The New York Times nytimes.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from nytimes.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
At food and supply distribution events in East Austin, Jill Ramirez and her fellow promotoras (community health workers) are at the end of the distribution line with their clipboards ready to get names and numbers to sign people up for the coronavirus vaccine.
When Travis County notifies her about available vaccine appointment slots, Ramirez picks up the phone to help register as many people as possible on her signup sheet.
But she s not with any health care provider, the city or the county. She works with the Latino HealthCare Forum. That organization and other grassroots groups, including the Austin Latino Coalition and the Del Valle Community Coalition, have been reaching out to the Latino community in the eastern crescent of Austin to increase vaccine access.