With one of the worst death rates from COVID-19, the Far Rockaway neighborhood of Queens, New York, has the lowest vaccination rate in the city.
Diana knows well the suffering that illness can leave behind. After losing his father to the virus before he had the opportunity to get vaccinated, he does not want anyone else to go through the same thing and tries to convince everyone he knows to get vaccinated from the Family Health Center where he coordinates the Bell.
“We have a good amount of people who still don’t want to get vaccinated for whatever reason. I know a lot of them say, I’ll wait to see what happens a couple of months after my family gets vaccinated or my friends get vaccinated. But there are still many who, unfortunately, are not prepared for it, “he laments.
The experience of those who take the step is being good. “I was scared but now I think no one should be,” says Angelita, teacher. But there is still too much reluctance.
Another college student gets vaccinated, she says, just because she is required to go back to face-to-face school. “The thing that worries me the most, because I feel like we don’t know much about the virus itself, so it’s like we’re vaccinated for something we don’t really know. So that’s where my mistrust comes from. And also, a lot of things that we are hearing, like that the Johnson and Johnson vaccine was giving, blood clots and stuff. This makes me think that something else can also happen with the other vaccines later, “he explains.
Only half of the neighborhood’s adult population, a majority black and Latino community, has received the vaccine.
A man claims he has a phobia of needles. “That is part of my problem. My best friend has been vaccinated and I see it as if he does not get it, neither do I.”
Doubts and distrust in the drug that have fueled disinterest among residents, despite the fact that several vaccination centers have been installed in the area.
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