Overcoming Barriers to Vaccinations Among Refugees and Immigrants
Denis Kasaza, an US Together client from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, was very eager to get his COVID-19 vaccine. He had been following the news very closely about COVID-19 and the vaccine, and is now happy that he is safe. However, many in his community are still very hesitant and fearful of the vaccine.
“The first time they consider(ed) vaccinating their people for COVID, this was information that they were going to use Africans as an experiment for this vaccine. So it got into people’s heads that you know you are using us for vaccines, they are trying to kill us...so they picked that out from you know from the false news on social media,” he said.
This fear and lack of trust of the government and healthcare system, as well as the misinformation that has been spread on social media, are some barriers immigrants and refugees especially face in receiving the COVID-19 vaccine.
“If we say that the vaccines are safe and effective and free and that you should get vaccinated as soon as possible, that holds more credibility than if the department of public health is saying if or if some elected official is saying it...we have been able to get people in because of trust.”
This summer, Erin Schmidt, an Americorps VISTA Summer Health Associate at the Columbus Us Together office, has worked to educate refugees and immigrants about the COVID-19 vaccine to help alleviate some of those barriers. She has also brought public awareness to these issues and shared strategies to help overcome the barriers. She created a COVID-19 vaccine resource booklet that she is currently sharing with different organizations and health clinics that serve refugees and immigrants. Each booklet contains reliable, accurate information about vaccine benefits, safety, side effects, vaccine types, vaccine access, transportation, locations (within the Columbus area), and more resources. The booklets also include information about Title VI, which ensures the provision of qualified interpreters/translators at no cost to any Limited English Proficiency (LEP) client at federally-funded providers (such as hospitals).
“I am very excited about how these booklets will benefit refugees and immigrants and help them to get vaccinated. I have already been encouraged by organizations and health clinics who are eager to have these on hand. There is definitely a need, and it’s great that I have had an opportunity to provide this kind of education,” she said.
To bring greater awareness to the barriers immigrants and refugees face with the Covid-19 vaccine and highlight different ways people have helped to overcome them, she produced zoom interviews with people at US Together and leaders in the community. Watch these videos below:
Erin interviewed Mike Premo, the Director of Engagement for Community Development for All People. Community Development for All People is a faith-based non-profit whose mission is to improve the quality of life for all residents of the South Side through individual and community services. They contacted Columbus Public Health to have a vaccine pop-up clinic at their building because it would be a convenient and trusting environment.
“If we say that the vaccines are safe and effective and free and that you should get vaccinated as soon as possible, that holds more credibility than if the department of public health is saying if or if some elected official is saying it...we have been able to get people in because of trust,” Premo said.
“...When they know that their case manager or the person who has been helping them through this time has gotten the vaccine and you know I am still here and healthy and doing great so they start, you know, saying maybe we also need to take it. So I have been sharing my story of me taking the vaccine with my clients to encourage them to take it.”
Hana Abdelbaki, the Program Coordinator for Victims of Crime at US Together, shared similar thoughts about the importance of trust when encouraging her clients to get vaccinated. Because of the relationships she has built with her clients, they have been more willing to get vaccinated.
“We help them get connected to all these services so there’s trust-building process that happens with the families, so when they know that their case manager or the person who has been helping them through this time has gotten the vaccine and you know I am still here and healthy and doing great so they start, you know, saying maybe we also need to take it. So I have been sharing my story of me taking the vaccine with my clients to encourage them to take it,” she said.
Denis as well has been sharing his story, going to all of his friends’ homes to tell them that he is alive and healthy after taking the vaccine. He said the best way for his community to get vaccinated is for people like him “to help encourage and provide transportation.” He even brought his white coworker with his black friend to get vaccinated to show him that everyone is getting the vaccine, not just black people.
Despite the struggles, Hana is happy with the progress that has been made and said that things are going “much smoother.” She encourages people to continue having conversations to increase vaccination among refugees and immigrants.
“Just keep conversation going and making sure that you know that a lot of people are talking to the community at different like points of contact, so here as case managers we talk about it, so if they go also to a hospital setting or if they are seeing some kind of doctor...the more they here about it the better it is.”
You can find the full interviews and the pdf of the booklet on the COVID-19 page on the US Together website. The booklet is available in English, Nepali, Swahili, Kinyarwanda, Arabic, Somali, Spanish, Tigrinya.
Special thanks to AmeriCorps VISTA Summer Associate Erin Schmidt for working on this project.