Children’s Alliance helps vaccinate West Sacramento

The group, along with Yolo County, District 1 Supervisor Oscar Villegas, West Sac and Holy Cross Church vaccinated 542 people

The Yolo County Children’s Alliance, in partnership with Yolo County, District 1 Supervisor Oscar Villegas, the city of West Sacramento and Holy Cross Church, held West Sacramento’s first widely-attended vaccination clinic, distributing 542 first-dose vaccines to residents in disadvantaged neighborhoods.

The outreach for this vaccination clinic, which took place Saturday, focused on the Bryte and Broderick communities, according to a statement from the YCCA. In these neighborhoods, many of the residents may not be English-speaking, or may have limited access to internet or technology.

To remove any cultural, language, or technological barriers and encourage residents to get vaccinated, YCCA and Yolo County distributed flyers in various languages, and CDC information about the vaccine, to clients of the Yolo County Children’s Alliance, along with grassroots efforts within the neighborhoods. Additionally, translators were available who spoke Spanish, Russian, Farsi and Urdu.

“The residents in the Bryte and Broderick communities are a large portion of the Yolo County population who have not been able to get vaccinated. With residents in these communities having English as a second language, or being lower-income households, a lot of these people may not have access to the information about the vaccines or about clinics, and a lot may have technological or language barriers to getting that information,” stated Villegas. “Furthermore, when clinics are not within walking distance, many of these residents may not have a car to get them places. The purpose of holding this clinic in such a central location is so that we reach these residents and get vaccination opportunities to the entirety of our community.”

The YCCA centralizes their services on disadvantaged communities, the statement noted that the organization focuses on “acknowledging language barriers, cultural differences, religious concerns, and overall disadvantages when it comes to technology and resources.”

In addition to the vaccination clinic, YCCA provides housing assistance programs, parenting classes, tax preparation assistance, Medi-Cal and CalFresh enrollment assistance, weekly food distributions and more.