A shot of hope for the left behind
Take Care works to boost vaccines, health education in hard-hit communities
Victorina Garcia rolled her sleeve up over her shoulder and averted her eyes. She made no reaction as the syringe filled with Moderna vaccine plunged into her arm.
A few feet away, her husband Gregorio Juarez stood waiting to get his shot next. The line filled with people waiting to get theirs stretched behind him out into the parking lot of Iglesia Hispana Emmanuel.
The couple, originally from Oaxaca, Mexico, now live in Annapolis. They were some of the first people to receive the vaccine at a pop-up clinic Wednesday in Admiral Heights held in partnership with Luminis Health.
For months, Annapolis has sought to address the disproportionate impact the coronavirus has had on Black, Latino and Hispanic communities. The virus has run rampant in those groups in part because they are more likely to live in multigenerational homes, work in public-facing jobs and sometimes aren’t aware of city resources meant to fight the virus.
Now, Annapolis has turned its efforts to distributing vaccines in those communities.
Garcia and Juarez felt a mix of nerves and anticipation to get their first shot but the moment also held an amount of excitement because it meant they would be protected against COVID-19, the virus terrorizing the city for more than a year.
“Today, I feel healthy, but in the future, I don’t know what could happen,” Juarez said through an interpreter. He was celebrating his 70th birthday. Garcia, 67, said she wanted the shot to feel safe to gather with her family without fear.
Last summer, the city’s response to the virus looked completely different. Daily case counts were skyrocketing, and an emergency-approved vaccine was still months away.
Soon after a story published in The Capital found 70% of city residents who had contracted COVID-19 were Hispanic, Laura Gutierrez, city Hispanic Community Services specialist, took action.
With the help of $56,000 in CARES Act funding, Gutierrez created Take Care/ Cuidate Annapolis, a health equity outreach program. She hired part-time workers and recruited volunteers who spent months canvassing neighborhoods in the city known to be predominantly Black, Hispanic and Latino. They handed out educational materials and completed an expansive community survey that collected demographic information and other data on housing, food security, employment, social services and the perceived impact of COVID-19.
The survey results were staggering but not unexpected, said Gutierrez, who published a report on the program this
month.
Of the 331 respondents who self-identified as Hispanic, more than 70% said they were not aware of resources provided by the city, county or other organizations. Almost 90% said they would like to receive more information about such resources.
Residents told Gutierrez that there was little to no information in Spanish and the information they did get was outdated, she said.
“As we got started in the communities, people were amazed that we were there,” Gutierrez said. “They would say, ‘God bless you, thank you so much,’ and it was just sort of this feeling of people who have been left on the sidelines all this time and finally felt like they were being considered and valued, and actually attended to.”
The proportion of Hispanic residents who have tested positive has improved since the summer, accounting for about 40% of the city’s positive cases in January, according to the Take Care report. That is still four times the city’s Hispanic population of 11%.
Almost three-quarters said they lived in an overcrowded living situation; eight in 10 reported they did not have health insurance.
The majority of those surveyed — 52% — reported relying on one income per household. And two-thirds of respondents reported having two or more dependents. About 41% of respondents said they were either working reducedhoursorpart-time,and40%reported being unemployed. Among the occupations reported, the top three were cleaning, 41%; restaurants, 29%; and construction, 9%.
While the vast majority of respondents said they had access to personal protective equipment, 13% said they have little or no access to masks and other equipment.
Between August and December, Take Care distributed 4,200 masks, 4,500 kits, including face masks, face shields, hand sanitizer, flyers and a letter explaining COVID-19.
Another 120 kits and 300 bilingual “masks are required” signs were given to businesses, according to the report.
The work Gutierrez and her team have done during the pandemic have been “a dream come true” for the Hispanic community, said Tony Zapata, Immanuel Iglesias’ administrator.
“We’ve had liaisons in the past, but this lady is a powerhouse,” he said. “It’s amazing the work she does.”
Of the more than 12,500 vaccine doses that have been distributed in Annapolis so far, about 260 doses have gone to Hispanic residents, said Kevin Simmons, Office of Emergency Management Director.
That’s by far the fewest of any racial group.
By comparison, about 5,300 doses have gone to white residents and 1,400 to Black residents.
Vaccinations among Black residents have been bolstered by a series of clinics held at Morris H. Blum Apartments, Asbury United Methodist and Mount Olive AME Church, Simmons said. On Saturday, another clinic was planned at Mount Zion United Methodist in Eastport.
At Iglesia Emmanuel, all 150 doses on hand made it into arms, including Zapata’s.
A general mistrust of vaccines and a language barrier are among the challenges the city has faced to inoculating Hispanic residents, Zapata said.
He said he was proud to be an example for those who are hesitant to get the shot.
To ensure Take Care stays in contact with people during the vaccination push, they set up a text messaging network that enabled direct communication with nearly 800 city residents. People can now text a team member with specific needs or questions at any time, Gutierrez said.
From questions about the next food bank location to a request for rental assistance, the team can help direct residents to the resources they need.
This kind of work is expected to continue. The City Council recently approved a $100,000 appropriation in CARES Act money to keep the program funded for another six months.
“From its inception, the goal of this team was to reach into vulnerable populations and make connections to resources,” Mayor Gavin Buckley said. “I am so proud of the work they have accomplished, especially the connections and trust they have built.”
Gutierrez hopes to use the money to keep offering vaccination sites, more health literature distribution and more personal connections to people who previously felt left behind.
Eventually, once the pandemic finally ends, Gutierrez hopes the infrastructure she has created could remain in place for future health equity work such as flu shot distribution, diabetes and blood pressure screenings, and more.
But for now, the goal is to get more people like Juarez, Garcia and Zapata vaccinated.
As he pulled his jacket on over his bandaided arm and waited to schedule his second vaccine appointment, Juarez was asked how he was feeling.
His eyes lit up above his mask.
“Muy bien,” he said.
If you are 65 years or older and need technical or language assistance completing the pre-registration form, call 410-2223663. TTY users, please call via Maryland Relay 711. For more information visit the city’s COVID webpage at www.annapolis. gov/1753/Vaccine-Updates.