Raleigh. – The consulates of Mexico and Guatemala embrace the efforts of the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS) in seeking to counteract the Covid-19 pandemic.
This was confirmed by the consuls Claudia Velasco, from Mexico, and Jorge Archila from Guatemala, during the virtual meeting ‘El Cafecito’ that they held on April 26.
“We must be very well informed and continue to take care of ourselves because we still do not know when the end will be,” said Consul Velasco.
“It is a very important theme. The pandemic is not over yet. In our case, we continue to know about infections from Guatemalans. Because of the type of work that many Hispanics do, they are susceptible,” said Guatemalan Archila.
The diplomats shared with Yazmín García and Viviana Martínez-Bianchi, the director of Hispanic Strategy for the NCDHHS and the director of Health Equity in the Department of Family Medicine and Health at Duke University.
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to get vaccinated
The two consuls affirmed that -in their cases- getting vaccinated made them feel safer, although this does not mean that they can be trusted.
For example, Archila recalled that in the consulate that he directs, several officials were infected with the virus but that the timely vaccine made the impact on them mild.
Both the Mexican and Guatemalan authorities are making efforts so that their compatriots receive the vaccines.
“Every week we have vaccination days at the Consulate and we see a more receptive community to get the booster. However, there are still people who do not believe in the virus,” said the Mexican consul.
For his part, Archila agreed that they carry out vaccination days while recalling that this is not the time to lower precautions.
Velasco and Archila pledged to continue efforts to get Latinos vaccinated. In addition, they congratulated the state health authorities for their work.
Yazmín García recalled that vaccines against Covid-19 are free. The government also reported that a considerable percentage of Latinos are behind in receiving their booster doses against Covid-19.
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