RICHMOND, Calif.
After people 65 and older became eligible for COVID-19 vaccinations, Torm Normpraseurt picked up the phone and called one Laotian immigrant after another about a dozen in all.
Here’s how to make an appointment, he told them in Lao. Someone will find you a ride, and volunteers fluent in both Lao and English will be by your side when you get your shot, he assured them.
Phones were also ringing in Laotian households across the Bay Area as an elaborate network lighted up, spreading the word about vaccinations to older immigrants, many of whom are not fluent in English and don’t use the internet.