Community leaders, including one of SolutionHealth’s own providers, are working to build trust in the COVID-19 vaccine after surveys show that many people are still skeptical.
Despite being disproportionately impacted by COVID-19, data shows that those who are most hesitant to get vaccinated against it are people of color.
In a recent UNH Survey Center poll, 78 percent of people who identify as non-white in New Hampshire said they would “probably not” or “almost certainly not” get the COVID-19 vaccine.
To help build trust among those who are skeptical, our health care heroes are leading by example.
Dr. Melissa Martinez-Adorno, an OB/GYN at Southern New Hampshire Health, was one of the first health care workers in New Hampshire to be vaccinated. She was also the first member of the Latinx community in New Hampshire to be vaccinated.
During an interview with NHPR, Dr. Martinez-Adorno says she has been making sure COVID-19 vaccine information is available at Southern New Hampshire Health in diverse languages. She’s also getting the word out herself through local Spanish media.
“My hope is that as Latinos see that I, as a Latina who has four children and who just kind of came from the same kind of background… to be able to model the behavior of receiving that vaccine, I think that’s step one,” she said.
Her message has resonated among her patients. Dr. Martinez-Adorno says since she got her shot, she’s gotten a lot of questions from patients and many have said that seeing her getting vaccinated mattered to them.
Read the full NHPR article here.
