HERMISTON — Walking to the door of a recent pop-up COVID-19 vaccination clinic in Hermiston, Maria Ugarte admitted to feeling emotional about getting a shot.

“I’m scared,” the Umatilla resident said. “But I’m going to get done with it. I’m going to get the shot.”

Ugarte’s story

Initially afraid of how the vaccine would affect her disabled daughter, she and other family members did not get vaccinated. She said she thought her family would not need to be vaccinated, as long as they followed other guidelines. So, they were careful to wear masks, wash their hands and social distance wherever possible, Ugarte said.

And still, the infection reached their home, she said.

She said she got sick and was bedridden for 21 days. Also, her daughter came down with COVID-19, Ugarte said, and she had a bad experience at Good Shepherd Medical Center, Hermiston. The hospital was stretched thin at the time of her daughter’s arrival, she said. Ugarte described the hospital as lacking beds and equipment, as other patients were also being treated.

“I thought I had lost her,” she said. “Thank God she’s OK.”

After they recovered, family members started getting vaccinations, she said. Ugarte got her first Pfizer shot in October. She said she wanted to wait until she was feeling well before getting the necessary second shot. It is only now, she said, that her “foggy brain,” fatigue and cough, symptoms of COVID-19, have passed.

“I just want to tell everybody that this thing is freaking real,” she said of COVID-19, “and they should be afraid because they can die of it.”

Setting up for the shot

New Horizons drug and alcohol rehabilitation center in Hermiston provided its space for the clinic. Center Director Jose Garcia greeted Ugarte and welcomed her to fill out paperwork and then get her shot.

This was Garcia’s fifth vaccination event at New Horizons, he said. He provided space for health care providers to vaccinate individuals. Meanwhile, he offered visitors air purifiers, hand sanitizer, masks and more. He passed out information about COVID-19 prevention in English and Spanish. He set out boxes of food, made available by Agape House in Hermiston.

County public health boss looks into the numbers

According to Joseph Fiumara, public health director for Umatilla County Public Health, around 34% of Hispanic people in the county are vaccinated against the coronavirus. In contrast, 43% of the county’s white population is vaccinated, he said. These numbers may not be precise, he said, because they are from a survey in which Hispanic people were overrepresented.

Another survey, conducted over the phone, showed a higher percentage of Hispanic people than white people are vaccinated, he said, but he was not confident these numbers accurately represents the entire county.

The best numbers, he said, show Hispanic people are less vaccinated than other groups. Still, he said, the county is closing the gap on this difference and more Hispanic people are getting vaccinated.

The director gave reasons for the disparity. For one, he said, the difference between ethnicities in vaccination rate “started that way.” The virus hit the Hispanic community very hard, he said, infecting workers in agriculture and food processing, jobs people cannot do at home.

Vaccines during the onset of their rollout went to hospital workers, first responders and teachers, he said, jobs that tend to have more white people.

There are other barriers to vaccination among Hispanic people, he explained, such as wariness of a new vaccine, distrust of government and a language barrier.

As his department and others have tried to address issues of vaccination among Hispanic people, the difference between ethnic groups is closing, he said. Twenty-four percent of all vaccinations are being given to Hispanic people, who represent 28% of the population, he said.

The director credited the work by community organizations, which have educated individuals and made vaccinations more available than they had in the past. Vaccination events, often staffed by Spanish-speaking people, are taking place. Also, several local businesses have hosted clinics for workers to get vaccinated while remaining on the clock, Fiumara said.

Worries with vaccination

At the New Horizons event, Garcia agreed with Fiumara’s assessment of barriers to vaccination. He added, though, there are other concerns, including immigration.

Some people, he said, do not want to get vaccinated because they are undocumented. They worry about putting their names down on lists the government can track and later use to deport them. Also, Garcia said, many people are in the process of gaining citizenship and they worry that receiving any aid at all, even vaccination services, will cancel their efforts to become U.S. citizens.

Sergio Gonzalez, a nurse at the clinic, said he has been to other clinics, some draw more than a hundred people and others attract only a handful, and spoken with people about health and immigration concerns. He expressed confidence that immigration officials were not tracking people at vaccination events.

“The information is private,” he said.

Andrea Odle, Oregon Health Authority assistant regional COVID-19 testing and vaccine coordinator, also was on hand. A fluent Spanish speaker, she said it is important for people to receive information about the vaccine in their first language. When individuals hear information in the language they know best, she said, they are more likely to understand and trust it.

Another nurse at the event, Christine Daniel, said she hopes people will overcome their concerns about the vaccination.

“It’s very important for health issues,” she said. “People are getting sick. People are dying. We want to get back to normal, and vaccinations will help us get there.”