Key TakeawaysLimited access to information about the COVID-19 vaccines, including how to sign up and where to go, creates barriers for people in underserved communities.Language barriers are leading to a lack of reliable COVID-19 information.Making translators available at vaccination sites and relying on trusted leaders in the community can help increase vaccine access.

Key Takeaways

Limited access to information about the COVID-19 vaccines, including how to sign up and where to go, creates barriers for people in underserved communities.Language barriers are leading to a lack of reliable COVID-19 information.Making translators available at vaccination sites and relying on trusted leaders in the community can help increase vaccine access.

The government is pivoting its vaccine distribution efforts from mass vaccination sites to reaching people where they are in order to increase access. One factor they’ll have to address: language barriers.

People who don’t speak or read English are experiencing difficulties navigating vaccine appointment registration portals where there are no instructions in additional languages. General vaccine information also tends to get lost in translation.

Reports often point to the prevalence of vaccine hesitancy in BIPOC communities to explain low vaccination rates. But many of these fears and worries can be traced back to a lack of accessible information.

Vaccinating BIPOC Communities Depends on Access, Not Hesitancy

Alvin Cantero, MSN, DNP, the founder and CEO ofAlvin Clinica Familiar in Houston, Texas, tells Verywell that the high levels of vaccine hesitancy and pandemic misinformation in the minority communities he works with can be attributed to a lack of access to appropriate COVID-19 information. He’s had patients ask him questions about whether the COVID-19 vaccines are inserting government tracking microchips into the body or if the shot will change their DNA.

“The hesitancy is mostly based on fears," Cantero says. “And those fears are validated through Google searches, even if they are not accurate.” But some fears aren’t unfounded. Despite President Biden announcing ICE will not conduct immigration arrests near vaccination sites, many undocumented immigrants remain afraid of getting vaccinated for fear of deportation, according toKaiser Health News.

COVID-19 Vaccines Can Now Be Distributed at All Community Health Centers

Language barriers only exacerbate the situation, often leading to the spread of vaccine misinformation in vulnerable areas with limited access to healthcare.

How Language Barriers Factor In

Language barriers can even be fatal if people aren’t given accurate information or told what to do if they test positive for the virus. Cantero says that one Spanish-speaking patient who tested positive for COVID-19 continued working because her manager called her into work, ignoring the severity of the diagnosis. By the time she sought care at his clinic, her oxygen levels had plummeted, and she died seven days later.

Residente de Miami de 73 Años Comparte Experiencia Con la Vacuna Contra COVID-19

Now, already at a disadvantage for COVID care, non-English speakers are struggling to sign up for vaccines on websites without translated pages. Cantero says the lack of bilingual staff members at vaccine sites who can talk individuals through the process can be frustrating—potentially discouraging other family members from getting a vaccine too.

What This Means For YouIf you have limited English proficiency and are having trouble finding information about COVID-19 and the vaccines in your language, you can find trusted informationhere, translated to multiple different languages.

What This Means For You

If you have limited English proficiency and are having trouble finding information about COVID-19 and the vaccines in your language, you can find trusted informationhere, translated to multiple different languages.

Translating the Information

The Pannell Clinic in Sacramento distributes forms and displays signs in multiple languages. Volunteer translators for 12 different languages spanning from Chinese to Vietnamese are also available on-site, according toABC10. Mecklenburg County Health Department is working with theCamino Community Centerin Charlotte, North Carolina, to offer the vaccine at their locations. By housing vaccination sites in a familiar place for people in the area, they hope to increase the number of vaccinations in the primarily Hispanic community.

How Doctors Are Encouraging COVID-19 Vaccination in Communities of Color

Individuals who have basic computer skills and are proficient in English are also integral in helping overcome the language barrier during vaccine sign-ups.

Both experts say younger family members who are tech-savvy are stepping in to help older adults navigate the vaccine sign-up process. “The young generation, they are very fast with technology, and they can translate for people,” Cantero says. “So that’s another thing that helps to overcome the language barrier.” Two high school sophomores even started the ‘New York Vaccine Angels,’working to secure appointments for people who primarily speak Spanish or Chinese.

Trusted Leaders Can Help

Building confidence in the vaccines, and easing access barriers, requires the help of people who are seen as trustworthy in the local community. Tallaj says his organization works to connect people with family doctors who live in the same community as their patients.

“Doctors understand the problems in the community, the determinants of health that are important, and can address in their language,” Tallaj says. “It’s better for understanding how protecting you from disease extrapolates to vaccination.”

How Faith Leaders Are Increasing COVID-19 Vaccine Confidence

A Verywell surveyfound that people who know someone who has been vaccinated are more likely to agree to get the shot. Local community leaders who disclose they have been vaccinated or show their vaccination can help build public trust.

And it goes beyond government figures. People often listen to local YMCA leaders and pastors in churches who help explain information in their native language. “This is why we partner with churches and schools—because there is trust in the priests or whoever is in charge,” Tallaj says.

Cantero says he distributes flyers in different languages at his clinic depicting the vaccination process. By speaking with patients about his vaccination experience in their own language, he says he encourages them to seek help and ask questions.

People Who Talk to Their Doctors Are More Likely to Get Vaccines

“When patients ask me if I got my vaccine, I tell them I got [the vaccine] last December as soon as it was available because I needed to see them,” Cantero says. “If I’m not in good health, there is no way I’m going to provide you health care, and I want to take care of you and your family.”

The information in this article is current as of the date listed, which means newer information may be available when you read this. For the most recent updates on COVID-19, visit ourcoronavirus news page.

3 Sources

Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

Centers for Disease Control & Prevention.Health Equity Considerations and Racial and Ethnic Minority Groups.

Knights F, Carter J, Deal A, et al.Impact of COVID-19 on Migrants’ Access to Primary Care and Implications for Vaccine Roll Out: A National Qualitative Study.British Journal of General Practice.doi: https://doi.org/10.1093/pubmed/fdaa282

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