KUNC Ana Gomez (left) sits down to get her COVID-19 vaccine at the Boys and Girls Club in Fort Collins on May 1, 2021.
On a recent Saturday morning, the local Boys and Girls Club in Fort Collins hosted an all-out vaccine party in its gymnasium. A mariachi band serenaded patients. Volunteers served fresh churros and horchata.
But behind the cinnamon sugar and celebratory mood was a small army of community organizers with an urgent mission: Get as many Hispanic and Latino residents as possible immunized against COVID-19, and help close wide disparities within Colorado’s ongoing vaccine rollout.
“We’ve seen the struggle of our community in the last year,” said Jesús Castro, an organizer with the group Fuerza Latina. “So we wanted to make something nice, like a reunion.”
Vaccination rates are lagging for Latino and Black Coloradans, as well as for men.
These two are exactly the kinds of people the state is hoping to reach now. They’re both young he’s 22, she’s 18 and from groups Latinx and Black Coloradans whose vaccination rates lag behind their share of the population.
But at least so far on this day last week at this site, they don’t have a lot of company. Nurse Hayley DeForest said it’s been pretty quiet.
“Demand, I feel like has gone down a little bit,” De Forest said. “It s just trying to figure out who still needs vaccines, because obviously, we have not vaccinated the entire population.”
Racial Gap in COVID Vaccinations Remains in Colorado
Though it s been just three weeks since vaccines became available to everyone 16 and older, public health experts said the disparities exist partially because of existing barriers to health care.
April 27, 2021 • (TNS) - People of color are still being inoculated against COVID-19 at a slower rate than their white peers four months into Colorado s mass vaccination campaign, despite state health officials repeated assurances they re prioritizing equity in distributing the shots.
The persisting racial gap in vaccinations is notable as Black and Latino Coloradans have faced high rates of sickness and deaths from the coronavirus.
Published February 9, 2021 at 5:29 PM MST
Andy Cross
The Denver Post WWII Air Force veteran Eugene Jiggitts (left) gets his COVID-19 vaccination shot from Dr. Richard Pang at the UCHealth mass vaccination clinic in the Coors Field parking lot Jan. 30, 2021.
On today’s Colorado Edition: As COVID-19 vaccines are rolled out across the state, health experts are noting disparities in communities of color. We’ll hear about the work of a statewide vaccine equity task force, and a group in the Roaring Fork Valley, working to change that by broadening the message around the safety of the vaccines. And we’ll hear from Dr. Melba Patillo Beals, one of the members of the Little Rock Nine, about her experience integrating Central High School in 1957 and the ongoing fight against racism today.
Colorado Vaccine Equality Taskforce begins outreach efforts
The taskforce s goal is to ensure 80% of all Colorado adults who are Black, Latinx or Native American get vaccinated by the fall. Author: Wilson Beese (9NEWS) Updated: 11:47 AM MST January 15, 2021
DENVER The Colorado Vaccine Equality Taskforce (CVET) announced it began its work this week focusing on outreach efforts to Black, Latinx and Native American communities.
CVET said its mission is to get facts about the COVID-19 vaccine to people, including how it can help protect their families and communities.
The taskforce was formed in the fall to support vaccination in communities of color.