{"id":5051018,"date":"2021-02-09T17:10:37","date_gmt":"2021-02-09T17:10:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/malatinonews.com\/?p=5051018"},"modified":"2021-02-09T17:10:37","modified_gmt":"2021-02-09T17:10:37","slug":"due-to-covid-vaccine-inequity-lawrence-takes-matters-into-its-own-hands","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/latinonewsnetwork.com\/maln\/2021\/02\/09\/due-to-covid-vaccine-inequity-lawrence-takes-matters-into-its-own-hands\/","title":{"rendered":"Due to COVID vaccine inequity, Lawrence takes matters into its own hands"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Lawrence is a city with one of the highest concentrations of\u00a0Hispanics -Latinos in Massachusetts (77 percent of the city population). Similar to the state’s other more\u00a0diverse and lower-income cities it’s facing challenges in regard\u00a0to vaccine equity and access.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lawrence which is ranked last in the state for both per capita income and median family income \u2013 has one local vaccination site\u00a0at an elementary school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to a report by the Telegram & Gazatte, those who are most vulnerable and impacted by COVID-19, such as Black and Brown populations, are getting vaccinated at a far lesser rate than white populations, though the vaccine rollout is still in its early phases.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recent numbers from the Kaiser Family Foundation<\/a>\u00a0showed that as of Feb. 1, 56% of those who have been vaccinated in Massachusetts identify as\u00a0white, while only 4% identify as Black and 5% identify as Hispanic. Thirty-one percent identify as multiracial.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A bilingual call center has been established in Lawrence so residents can avoid the state\u2019s registration site which can be hard to navigate, especially if English isn’t a person’s native language.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“A\u00a0lot more needs to get done,” said Lawrence Mayor Kendrys Vasquez.\u00a0“That’s why we are taking initiatives on our own.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Major factors that led to his community being hard-hit, Vasquez told the Telegram & Gazatte,\u00a0are the scores of multi-unit housing in the city\u00a0and\u00a0a workforce employed by many industries deemed essential.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The type of work our residents have to do, many Lawrence residents did not have the luxury to work from home,” he said. “We’re talking about a very essential workforce in the city. That definitely had a tremendous impact.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lawrence has seen more than 17,000 residents test positive for COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic, and more than 215 deaths. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Governor Charlie Baker pledged to reserve 20% of the state’s vaccine supply for hard-hit communities, but groups such as the Greater Boston Latino Network\u00a0says a plan is needed to administer the shots, not just set them aside.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

The bilingual COVID-19 call center, housed in the Lawrence Public Library and staffed by approximately 30 people.\u00a0Officials are urging residents to call that number (978-620-3330) to schedule an appointment, rather than navigate the challenging state registration process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Publisher’s Note: This story is an aggregate from COVID vaccine inequity frustrates Massachusetts’ diverse, lower-income cities hardest hit by virus<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Cover Photo Credit: Daily News & Wicked Local Staff, Art Illman)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lawrence is a city with one of the highest concentrations of\u00a0Hispanics -Latinos in Massachusetts (77 percent of the city population). […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":5051019,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","ghostkit_customizer_options":"","ghostkit_custom_css":"","ghostkit_custom_js_head":"","ghostkit_custom_js_foot":"","ghostkit_typography":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[121],"tags":[1224,1225,2653],"ppma_author":[6208],"class_list":["post-5051018","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health","tag-covid-vaccine","tag-covid-19","tag-hispanics-and-health"],"acf":[],"mb":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/latinonewsnetwork.com\/maln\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2021\/02\/mass-nurse.jpg",1320,880,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/latinonewsnetwork.com\/maln\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2021\/02\/mass-nurse-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/latinonewsnetwork.com\/maln\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2021\/02\/mass-nurse-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/latinonewsnetwork.com\/maln\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2021\/02\/mass-nurse-768x512.jpg",768,512,true],"large":["https:\/\/latinonewsnetwork.com\/maln\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2021\/02\/mass-nurse-1024x683.jpg",1024,683,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/latinonewsnetwork.com\/maln\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2021\/02\/mass-nurse.jpg",1320,880,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/latinonewsnetwork.com\/maln\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2021\/02\/mass-nurse.jpg",1320,880,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Hugo Balta","author_link":"https:\/\/latinonewsnetwork.com\/maln\/author\/hugobalta\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Lawrence is a city with one of the highest concentrations of\u00a0Hispanics -Latinos in Massachusetts (77 percent of the city population). […]","authors":[{"term_id":6208,"user_id":3,"is_guest":0,"slug":"hugobalta","display_name":"Hugo Balta","avatar_url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a940ffc25b7c12da41aa09d0728281f4d2892c88c10b72e5bdd634e2b5ddeb57?s=96&d=mm&r=g","0":null,"1":"","2":"","3":"","4":"","5":"","6":"","7":"","8":""}],"mfb_rest_fields":["title","uagb_featured_image_src","uagb_author_info","uagb_comment_info","uagb_excerpt","authors"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/latinonewsnetwork.com\/maln\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5051018","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/latinonewsnetwork.com\/maln\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/latinonewsnetwork.com\/maln\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinonewsnetwork.com\/maln\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinonewsnetwork.com\/maln\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5051018"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/latinonewsnetwork.com\/maln\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5051018\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinonewsnetwork.com\/maln\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5051019"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/latinonewsnetwork.com\/maln\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5051018"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinonewsnetwork.com\/maln\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5051018"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinonewsnetwork.com\/maln\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5051018"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinonewsnetwork.com\/maln\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=5051018"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}