Mayra Moreno, presenter of Eyewitness News, hosted the city’s first two-night event on Wednesday, focusing on hesitating our poorest communities to get the COVID-19 vaccine.
The CDC claims that blacks and Latin Americans are nearly three times more likely to die from complications of COVID-19 than whites.
“Eighty percent of the patients I have in my COVID unit are Hispanic or of Latino descent,” said Dr. Joseph Varon, chief physician at United Memorial Medical Center. “Everyone went to see their grandmothers (grandmother) for Christmas. Each of them.”
VACCINE TRACKER: Track COVID-19 vaccine availability and progress throughout Houston
Varon said he is deeply concerned about recent videos of big gatherings in bars and nightclubs and the continued resistance to wearing masks. But even more worrying, he said, is that people do not receive early medical attention or plan to get the vaccine.
“When they come to me with two and a half weeks of symptoms, shortness of breath, fever, I say,‘ why didn’t you come soon? “Varon said.” There are three common answers: if I go to the hospital, I’ll get COVID. If I go to the hospital, I will die. Very soon, number three, why am I going to the hospital? , it will cost me a lot of money “.
Varon said that when it comes to the vaccine and testing for COVID-19, many people are unaware that the federal government is supporting the bill.
“We come from a culture where we don’t normally like to ask for help,” said Dr. Laura Murillo, president of the Houston Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. “I can’t begin to tell you how many conversations I’ve had personally to try to convince people to pay attention to the facts, to science.”
RELATED: Houston County Counties Using COVID-19 Vaccine Waiting Lists to Manage Demand
Murillo said that while officials work to make vaccines more accessible, the Hispanic community needs to monitor their behaviors to curb hospitalizations, especially for our seniors and the high-risk population.
“We come from homes where it’s a multi-generational home. Even if Grandma stays home, you have people coming in and out of that house,” Murillo said. “Yes, we want to grow our community, small businesses, of course, but you will pay with your life or the life of a loved one if we don’t take it seriously.”
State Representative Armando Walle, who acts as the recovery tsar for Harris County’s COVID-19, acknowledged residents ’frustration with the slow pace of vaccine distribution, but promised that“ help is on the way ”.
After weeks of complaints and confusion about the vaccine appointment, the city of Houston opened the first motorhome vaccination site Monday at the Del Mar stadium. On Tuesday, Harris County opened the vaccine waiting list record.
“We apologize for the frustration,” Walle said. “I have a 90-year-old grandfather. I have a mother who has pre-existing conditions, so this is personal for all of us.”
Walle said as the county expects the full force of President Joe Biden’s distribution plan, everyone has a role to play in reducing the infection rate.
“I know we have COVID fatigue,” Walle said. “We have control. We have agency. We can wear a mask, right? We can limit roast meat, we can wash our hands.”
Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez and other panelists encouraged Austin leaders in Houston to consider creative ways to get to our Hispanic neighborhoods, from door-to-door to registering those who can’t get vaccinations. in line, to expand the inoculation sites by motorhome. .
“Maybe go in a van with my little refrigerator and give the shots to the people in his house,” Varon said. “If we don’t reach a large number of people to get vaccinated, we will have more medical problems, we will have more unusual strains of the virus and we will kill people despite the vaccine.”
Chauncy Glover, presenter of Eyewitness News, will host the second action 13 “COVID-19 Vaccine & Our Communities of Color” on Thursday at 7 p.m. of the city of Missouri.
Thursday night’s town hall panel includes:
- State Representative Ron Reynolds, Texas House District 27
- Curator Grady Prestage, Enclosure 2 of Fort Bend Co.
- Dra. Jacquelyn Johnson Minter, director of services and health at Fort Bend Co.
- Trustee Addie Heyliger, chairman of the Fort Bend ISD board
- Pastor Timothy Sloan, The Luke Church
- Casondra Burkley, LCSW, M. Div
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