False vaccine claims plague Latino immigrant community, inhibit vaccinations

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Fri, 2021-02-12 10:49 — mike kraft

Among Latino immigrants, false vaccine claims are spreading as fast as the virus Just like in the 2020 election, experts say, misleading social media posts and videos in Spanish are less likely to be flagged than those in English. Teo Armus Washington Post

Since November, Blanca Espronceda has spent many mornings chatting up other Latinos about the coronavirus vaccine, recruiting her neighbors in Maryland’s heavily immigrant suburbs to participate in ongoing trials.

But even as a community health worker, she has her own fears about getting the shot.

“What if the side effects make me sicker than the virus?” asked Espronceda, a 36-year-old native of Mexico who lives in Hyattsville. “What if I should wait a year, just to make sure it works?”

For those she approaches with fliers at food distribution sites and supermarkets, the objections are stronger: Some falsely insist the vaccine contains a microchip or that it will give them cancer. Others fear their personal information will be used to spy on them. Many point to religious beliefs, claiming that God will cure them if they contract covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, or that the vaccine is a sign of the Antichrist.

“As Hispanics, we like to gossip, pass on messages from one person to the next,” said Espronceda, who works with a program called Salud y Bienestar, or “Health and Wellness.” “But if we listen to all the negative things people say, we will have a problem on our hands.”

Latinos face higher chances of being infected by the coronavirus, getting hospitalized and dying of covid-19, but are twice as likely to lack the health insurance to afford treatment. They have suffered the sharpest drop in employment since March, and many who have held onto jobs are essential workers who risk exposure every day.

Yet they also appear to be getting vaccinated at very low rates.

Latino immigrants are far from a monolithic category, and many, including those in the Maryland suburbs, are eager to get vaccinated. Yet faced with language and literacy barriers, immigration fears, or a lack of outreach from local and state governments, some of the most vulnerable communities have become fertile ground for vaccine misinformation, advocates say. ...

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