Orange County Health Department Medical Director Dr. Raul Pino says there are pockets of the local Latino community that have still not been vaccinated for COVID-19.
Pino says vaccine hesitancy is partially to blame. But he says limited access to the vaccines isn’t helping either. He adds that access isn’t just about having insurance or a car, but it’s about being able to take the time off work to take yourself and your family to get the shot.
“Working long shift, basically every day, some of them working two jobs, three jobs, and that’s why I’m appealing to employers to give their employees the time to get vaccinated and to get their kids vaccinated,” Pino says.
While Pino says others are hesitant to go to vaccine clinics due to their immigration status.
“What happened in the Latino community, is that we have a large segment of the population that is not documented and that adds some layers of fear in our community to come and get vaccinated,” he says.
Pino says it’s crucial to get more people vaccinated in the county as the delta variant of the coronavirus spreads.
Some 23 people have already gotten sick and one person has died in the Orange region from this variant, which originated in India.
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