WASHINGTON (AP) — Many Latinos are forgoing COVID-19 shots because of concerns about losing work hours, getting a bill, and for some, immigration worries. That’s according to a new poll that offers insights into how to raise vaccination rates among the nation’s largest ethnic minority.
The Kaiser Family Foundation Vaccine Monitor poll released a few days ago found that many Hispanics who remain unvaccinated actually want a shot. In fact, they reported far less vaccine hesitancy than their white or Black counterparts.
One in 3 unvaccinated Latino adults said they want to get a COVID-19 vaccine as soon as possible — twice the share among unvaccinated white adults (16%) or Blacks (17%).
Conversely, just 17% of unvaccinated Hispanics said they would definitely not get a shot, compared with 34% of whites and 26% of unvaccinated Black adults.
“It is not about vaccine hesitancy; it is about logistics,” said Jane Delgado, president of the National Alliance for Hispanic Health, a nonprofit that seeks to include the Latino perspective in health policy debates. She’s seen national ad campaigns miss Hispanics time and again. “What we need is people helping people to actually get the vaccines,” said Delgado.
Vaccines are now in plentiful supply, but with COVID-19 cases falling the daily number of people getting a shot has slipped. The U.S. remains short of the level of protection needed for widespread immunity to the coronavirus. And there are ongoing concerns about the emergence of variants that could prove resistant to vaccines.
Overall, the poll found that 60% of white adults have gotten at least one shot. That dropped to 47% of Latinos. Blacks also lagged, but not as much, with 51% getting at least one dose.
Work was the chief concern among unvaccinated Latino adults. Sixty-four percent worried about missing work because of side effects from vaccination, as compared to 41 percent of unvaccinated adult whites and 55% of Blacks.
President Joe Biden has urged employers to actively help workers get vaccinated, including providing paid time off. His COVID relief law incorporates a tax credit for small and medium-sized businesses to offset the costs of leave. Hispanics are over-represented in low-wage occupations where jobs often don’t come with benefits, such as restaurant work, cleaning services, landscaping, and construction and handyman labor.
“Losing two days of work for two vaccines is a lot when you’ve already struggled all year round,” said Delgado.
By law and government policy, COVID-19 vaccines are available free of charge to all. But many Hispanics were not so sure of that. A little more than half of unvaccinated Latino adults were concerned about facing out-of-pocket costs.
The poll also found an undertow of worries that getting a vaccine might trigger problems with immigration authorities, although even the immigration-restricting Trump administration had said that would not be an issue.
Thirty-five percent of unvaccinated Hispanic adults said they were afraid of negative immigration consequences to them or a family member.
Showing a driver’s license or health insurance card is standard practice for people getting vaccinated, but 39% percent of unvaccinated Latinos said being asked for identification would be a concern.
Kaiser Foundation pollster Liz Hamel said the survey offers a roadmap for federal, state and local health officials trying to connect with Hispanic people. “There are opportunities for work to be done on the ground, in communities,” she said. “It’s about making it more convenient. There’s a significant group of people who haven’t gotten vaccinated because it’s too much of a hassle.”
ESPAÑOL:
WASHINGTON (AP) — Muchos latinos en Estados Unidos no se han vacunado contra el COVID-19 por temor a perder horas de trabajo, que les cobren, o en algunos casos, por temas de inmigración, revela una encuesta que ofrece ideas sobre cómo elevar las tasas de vacunación en la minoría étnica más grande del país.
La encuesta de monitoreo de vacunas de la Kaiser Family Foundation publicada recientemente halló que muchos hispanos en realidad quieren recibir la vacuna. La renuencia a recibirla es menor que entre personas negras y blancas.
Uno de cada tres adultos latinos no vacunados dijo que quiere vacunarse contra el COVID-19 lo antes posible, el doble que los adultos blancos (16%) o negros (17%) no vacunados.
Por el contrario, apenas el 17% de los hispanos no vacunados dijeron que no recibirían la inyección, comparado con el 34% de los blancos y 26% de los adultos negros no vacunados.
“No es un problema de renuencia sino de logística”, dijo Jane Delgado, presidenta de la Alianza Nacional por la Salud Hispana, una ONG que busca incluir la situación de los latinos en los debates sobre salud pública, Dice que las campañas publicitarias nacionales excluyen una y otra vez a los hispanos. “Necesitamos que la gente ayude a los demás a conseguir las vacunas”, dijo Delgado.
Hay vacunas en abundancia, pero al reducirse los casos de COVID-19 también ha disminuido la cantidad de personas que reciben la inyección. Estados Unidos no ha alcanzado el nivel de protección necesario para la inmunidad generalizada, y se teme la aparición de variantes que pudieran ser resistentes a las vacunas.
La encuesta halló que el 60% de los adultos blancos han recibido al menos una dosis, comparado con el 47% de los latinos y el 51% de las personas negras.
Entre los adultos latinos no vacunados, el 64% temía perder el empleo debido a los efectos secundarios de la vacuna, comparado con el 41% de blancos y 55% de adultos negros. Los hispanos constituyen una gran proporción de empleados en trabajos de bajos ingresos y sin beneficios, como los restaurantes, limpieza, jardinería y la construcción.
La encuesta halló que había cierto temor de que la vacunación creara problemas con las autoridades de inmigración a pesar de que un gobierno tan restrictivo en este tema como el de Donald Trump había dicho que ese no sería un problema.
El 35% de los adultos hispanos no vacunados expresó el temor de sufrir consecuencias negativas respecto a su estatus migratorio, ya fuera para ellos o algún familiar.
