The governor of Kansas, Laura Kelly, launched this Friday a campaign to urge Hispanic residents to get vaccinated against covid-19 supported by the renowned Mexican soccer player Claudio Suárez, “El Emperador”, to carry the message to the Latino community of the state .
The campaign “Voices of Our Community. Por los Nuestro ”will begin on June 28 and will run until August 30.
“While we have made progress in bringing vaccines to Hispanic communities throughout Kansas, we know there is more work to be done,” Kelly said in a statement.
With nearly three million Kansas residents, Hispanics make up 12.2% of the state’s population, and many of them have not yet received the vaccine.
The Democratic governor warned that there are still problems related to misinformation, mistrust, misperception and accessibility that affect vaccination rates in the Latino community.
That’s why Kelly, along with the Kansas Commission on Hispanic and Latin American Affairs and the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, decided to invite Suárez, a Mexican soccer legend and Fox Deportes soccer analyst, to encourage Hispanics to get immunized.
Kelly thanked Suarez in the statement for his willingness to help “fight this virus and keep Kansans safe and healthy.”
Latinos of Mexican origin or roots make up the majority of Hispanic residents in Kansas at 284,470, followed far behind by Puerto Ricans with 12,793, according to Census data.
Dr. Ximena García, senior advisor to the Kansas governorate’s Covid-19 Vaccine Equity Task Force, warned that “Hispanics are getting vaccinated at a much lower rate than their general market counterparts, and Kansas is not an exception”.
In that sense, Kelly stressed that “according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), Hispanics are twice as likely to be infected and three times more likely to be hospitalized by covid-19.”
“There is no doubt that COVID-19 has devastated the Hispanic community in the United States. And beyond, leaving a feeling of defeat, mental and physical fatigue in this community. It is time to act and get vaccinated ”, concluded the governor.
Since the pandemic began, Kansas has registered 318,097 positive cases of COVID-19 and 5,139 deaths related to the contagion, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
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