Ready To Serve
Vaccines, resources at fairgrounds
Pearl Mascarro smiled as she sat in her vehicle following her COVID-19 vaccine Monday at the Porterville Fairgrounds. The event ends today. It runs from noon to 7 p.m. at the Porterville Fairgrounds, 2700 Teapot Dome Ave., Porterville.
“It was very well put together. They had everything organized well,” Mascarro said as she waited the mandatory 15-minutes time frame following the vaccination before leaving the fairgrounds. “All of the staff were very attentive to people coming through.”
In another lane, Roger Snider Mosqueda was the first person to receive the Pfizer vaccination Monday. The Pfizer vaccine can be given to anyone 16 and older.
“I had COVID in May of 2020,” he said. “I was not hospitalized. I quarantined at home. I was so drained. All I could do was lay around and I got pretty scared. My uncle, brother, and two nephews, one of them a baby, died of COVID.”
Mosqueda said he was happy to get the vaccine.
“I had been asking but had not been able to get an appointment. I had one vaccination planned for April 14 but it was canceled. Then I was looking online and saw this one. It all went very smooth. I’m very happy that I am vaccinated now.”
With five vaccination lanes in place, it didn’t take more than a few minutes to be vaccinated.
On Sunday, more than 300 vaccinations were offered between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m.
Lydia and Clarissa Suarez waited Monday for their 15-minute wait in another vehicle. Both
praised the ease of the system and said they were happy with the experience. nearby, Licensed Vocational Nurse Steve Bennett stood by ready to check anyone’s blood pressure if they appeared to have some form of allergic reaction. He also had epinephrine pens to use and a radio to call the ambulance, which was situated several yards away.
But COVID-19 vaccines wasn’t all that was being offered free of charge at the Listos California three-day vaccination event at the Porterville Fairgrounds. The drive-thru event is also a community resource fair, with an extended network of 35 community-based organizations and groups offering a wealth of information, masks and bandanas, sanitizer, pamphlets on services, water, fresh produce, and culturallyappropriate food boxes containing everything from rice, beans, spicy tomato sauce, canned jalapenos, enchilada sauce, onions, garlic, crushed and dried peppers and more.
“It’s not enough this day to just serve vaccines,” said Rico Peralta, United Way, director of program.
“Tulare County has done an excellent job of reaching out to the community but it’s important to do more.”
That’s why this particular event was planned at the fairgrounds, he said.
“First, we meet them where they are at. Most of those who we are aiming to reach are within a 10 to 20 mile radius of here. The swap meets are held here. We have been advertising at the swap meets. They’ve been to the swap meet. They feel safe here. A trusted messenger is essential,” Peralta said.
He also said it’s not enough to offer a simple vaccination.
“They’re going to ask ‘what else do you have?’ It’s not just a clinical experience. That’s why we have music, we give them food. We are making people whole on the other end of the pandemic. They’re not just getting a shot in the arm.”
Education is also key, Peralta said and talked of how they explain about the vaccine, and about emergency preparedness.
“We start building resiliency and make them see themselves as first responders in their own household,” Peralta said.
Flyers are handed out in English and Spanish explaining COVID-19 vaccine information and safety tips. There’s also a disaster guide for farmworkers.
For those who speak other languages, they have a cell phone translating system in place.
“Most of the farm workers are from Mexico but many of them don’t speak Spanish. They speak Mixtecto, Trique and Cuicatec – and other Mixtec variants.”
For that reason, Peralta said they’re ready with their cellphones as a tool in their belts. With the texting of one simple word — VOX — they can open COVID-19 and disaster preparedness in their own home language.
The program offers audio files of their brochures in several Mixtec languages.
Listos California, a statewide emergency preparedness program, teamed up with United Way and Tulare County Department of Public Health to host the event.
Carrie Monteiro, public information officer for Tulare County Health and Human Services, said the event was planned to attract farm workers but anyone desiring to receive the vaccine is welcomed.
“A Calvax (California Vaccination) system is used but it is important for everyone to know immigration status is not an issue, not a factor,” Monteiro said. “All we need is your name and birthdate and we can accommodate to vaccinate.”