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How L.A. County COVID Fights Covid Through Education And Building Community Trust

How L.A. County COVID Fights Covid Through Education And Building Community Trust

LA COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS CHAIR HILDA L. SOLIS
& LA COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC HEALTH DIRECTOR BARBARA FERRER

Magazine, Living Well

As vaccines continue to bring hope to LA County residents in the fight against COVID 19, county officials continue to mobilize resources and services to improve living conditions. In a most recent briefing update Hilda L. Solis, a lifelong resident of the San Gabriel Valley and Chair of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors representing the San Gabriel Valley, Northeast, Southeast, and East LA shared that progress was reported in using masks and reducing social gatherings and activities. She expressed gratitude to scientists and all who had worked on the Pfizer, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson vaccines. She said however that a lot remained to be done as rates in black and Latino communities were still lagging compared to their white and Asian counterparts in low-income residential areas. The board is working on bringing mobile vaccination clinics to the communities affected. She recognized the East LA Women’s center as a beacon of hope for being instrumental in meeting the needs of the community.

Dr. Barbara Ferrer, the Director of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, also recognized the efforts of the Women’s center in making a difference in the community’s daily decline. Since the last Super-Bowl took place so far they haven’t registered any impact on new infections. Giving updates on the stats of COVID-19, the daily death rate while on the decline is still considered too high and so the pandemic is far from over. We must continue therefore to maintain the good practices especially as Spring break approaches.

Speaking on vaccine distribution and equity, there are over 500 places to get vaccines in the county Dr. Ferrer shared. Over 121Pharmacies in the county and over 100 federal sites are available for vaccines.

Vaccine equity continues to be a challenge due to a lack of access to sites.

Jazmin Flores who began her work as a promotora with the East Los Angeles Women’s Center in 2015 when she participated in the Promotoras Contra la Violencia training spoke about the services offered by the center whose goal is to educate and bring awareness to the communities most impacted by the pandemic. The center is providing resources through local grocery stores, centers, laundromats, gas stations, etc. They have stepped up efforts in reaching underserved communities with food and mental health services, hand sanitizers, etc The center has also served local businesses by showing them how to safely operate. The services of the center play an important role in bringing trust to the community that is plagued by stigma and the fear surrounding the vaccine.

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