Nicole Leonard / Connecticut Public Radio
Up until last year, 22-year-old Yenimar Cortez spent her whole life growing up without health insurance.
“In high school, I started realizing my mom, when she was struggling to pay to take us to checkups,” she said. “We would go to free clinics when we were younger as well. We had to wake up really early and make sure we got in line, because if they had no spaces, you couldn’t go.”
Although still undocumented, Cortez, who lives in New Haven, was able to get insurance through her job as an organizer with Connecticut Students for a Dream, an immigration resource and advocacy organization.
Our health system is failing people : CT community leaders tackle vaccine access for marginalized groups
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RVNAhealth COVID-19 vaccine clinic in the Yanity Gym, Ridgefield, Conn, Thursday, February 4, 2021.H John Voorhees III / Hearst Connecticut Media
As the state opens up vaccine registration to residents aged 65 and older this week, gaps in vaccine equity and access leave community members and activists concerned about roll-out for marginalized and under-served communities.
From an English-only vaccine appointment website that requires computer literacy skills and personal technology to navigate alone, to a lack of vaccine education and skepticism, to the finite allotment of vaccines, barriers to entry abound. The issues are systemic, historic, and concrete. They span histories of medical abuse in the Black community and the literal difficulties of signing up for a vaccine online. And community organizers are looking for solutions.