Activists increase COVID-19 injections for drug-resistant young people – Orange County Register

During a recent Lunar Festival in Riverside, Jennifer Cardenas spoke to a young Latino about getting vaccinated against COVID-19.

After a few minutes of conversation, the man said the main reason he didn’t get vaccinated was fear that his name “in the system” could lead to trouble for an undocumented family member.

Cardenas, herself Latina, explains that California allows all residents to get free immunizations without question about their immigration status, while federal officials have confirmed that they will not use COVID-19 testing or immunization information when they make immigration decisions.

She saw a change in the young man’s face.

“Those little connections are what really push us to continue this work,” says Cardenas.

Cardenas, 34, of Fontana, is an outreach specialist for the national nonprofit Young Invincibles, which supports young people in everything from access to healthcare to leadership training. citizen. Over the past year, she has helped lead a group of volunteers on a project called Generation Vaxxed. The goal is to combat misinformation about COVID-19 and help young people of all backgrounds make informed decisions about vaccinations.

Young people continue to lag behind older adults in vaccination rates. Follow data from the Centers for Disease Control.

Government and health agencies have used social media and other communication tools to encourage young people to get vaccinated, saying it would be very effective. reduce your personal risk hospitalized or died of COVID-19, and they will help slow transmission of disease in the community.

As part of that outreach, these agencies have also partnered with trusted community groups, such as Young Invincibles, to help spread the word, especially among hard-to-reach populations. near.

Last year, Young Invincibles received sponsorship from federal governmentas well as a national non-profit organization Community catalyst and Los Angeles County COVID-19 Community equity fund. In each case, the funds are intended to engage young people in diverse communities directly in immunization and health promotion.

“I feel like a longer conversation is needed, with the message best received when it comes from people with similar life experiences,” says Cardenas. “I think that’s the barrier that we’re breaking.”

Reach people where they are

The grant from LA County is how Chynna Lloyd was hired with Young Invincibles shortly after she graduated with a public health degree from Cal State Northridge last year. Lloyd, 23, helped create the Generation Vaxxed campaign, which her nonprofit has now rolled out in California, Colorado, Illinois, Texas and New York.

Lloyd’s mother, who was an immigrant from Belize, was not one to “anti-treat,” explains Lloyd. But as a Black woman, Lloyd said, her mother had distrusted the US health care system since knowing what it was like for her people. used in medical experiments for centuries. So when a COVID-19 vaccine came out last year and government officials were pushing “essential workers,” including a large percentage of Blacks and Browns, to come first, Lloyd said her mother initially feared they would again be used to test the safety of a new treatment.

Lloyd was vaccinated. After her mother saw she was fine, she vaccinated herself, calling pharmacies so she could get the same dose of Moderna as her daughter.

Being able to pass on that personal experience, she said, has helped Lloyd connect with others who share her mother’s concerns.

“It’s important to have those tough conversations, listen and see where they come from.”

To that end, Lloyd held a series of listening sessions last summer where more than 100 young people shared their concerns about a COVID-19 vaccine. Her team used what they learned to train staff and volunteers on how to talk to people. The sessions also resulted in a series of leaflets with well-researched answers to common questions about vaccines and a website, DontMissOutLA.org.

They’ve also run a “Don’t Miss LA” sticker campaign, TikTok and IGTV videos, and text banking efforts that reach at least 2,400 Southern California residents each month.

In early February, Young Invincibles organized an “action weekend” around the two-year anniversary of the US declaration of COVID-19 as a public health emergency. A group of 63 volunteers reached 1.2 million people on social media, sent more than 70,000 messages reminding people to get vaccinated and provided a COVID-19 vaccine clinic finder, and Talk to over 1,500 people at events and during door-to-door deliveries.

One of those volunteers was Diana Contreras, 25, of Rancho Cucamonga, a philosophy student at Cal State San Bernardino. Contreras said she is particularly motivated to get more people vaccinated because her mother, who had brain surgery, has a weakened immune system. She shared a bit of that story while reaching out to people sitting at cafes and in bookstores during an outreach effort earlier this month in Riverside.

While it’s difficult to measure results directly, Contreras believes those conversations have an impact.

“When you connect with someone, it’s like you make a small commitment,” she says. “Then they might think, ‘I talked to this person. Maybe she’s right. ‘”

Fighting misinformation

A common concern expressed with Young Invincibles staff and volunteers is that vaccine recipients will not be able to miss work. Many people work hourly, with limited pay if sick, and they are living on paycheck to paycheck. If vaccine side effects cause them to miss a day or two, they will struggle to put food on the table or pay rent for that month.

Invincibles young activists remind people that vaccine side effects are often mild and that they are more likely to miss extended work hours if they become seriously ill with COVID-19. Contreras also encourages young people to talk to their employers. Her company, for example, will pay up to 80 hours off work for anyone who experiences symptoms after getting the vaccine.

When it comes to fighting misinformation, Lloyd says the Young Invincibles team trains to approach these conversations from an empathetic place. Often, people have heard questionable information from trusted friends or family members, and Lloyd said her team won’t convince anyone that their grandmother or uncle is wrong. Instead, they share facts and cite their sources, with a series of “legendary” flyers flashing during outreach sessions. Lloyd added that her team doesn’t push anyone to commit, but instead explains that they expect everyone to make an informed decision.

Using that approach, not a single volunteer had a conversation that turned hostile, despite the polarizing nature of the subject.

Activists sometimes hear false claims about vaccines containing microchips. More often than not, young people express concerns that vaccines could affect their fertility, says Lloyd. Therefore, employees reach out to share research showing that vaccination has No effect on fertility for men or women, while COVID-19 can at least temporarily reduce fertility in men and pose serious risks to pregnant women and babies.

Some young people ask why they should get vaccinated even if they can still have COVID-19. So how do they share statistics like the risk of death? 68 times higher for unvaccinated adults infected with COVID-19 than for adults who have been fully immunized and boosted. Lloyd also told her own story of contracting COVID-19 after she was vaccinated and felt like she had a mild cold, while a good friend who was not vaccinated called her and said, “Miss Girl, I feel like I’m dying. ”

Despite their motivations for communication, Lloyd makes it clear to her that the only thing that can get some young people to get vaccinated is the duties. She’s spoken to many college students who say they only take pictures if it’s required, such as their dorm or a music festival. That’s why Lloyd’s team named their local effort “Don’t Miss LA” because that approach is working.

Regardless of why they end up getting vaccinated, Cardenas said the hope is that young people who get vaccinated will share that experience and information they’ve learned with their own communities. That way, she said, those people will build on the work her team is doing.

“It was one of our goals,” Cardenas said, “to create these trustworthy messengers.”