The La Mesa City Council will consider a resolution to set a vaccine equity goal by Juneteeth at its April 13th meeting.

Given the continued disparities in vaccine distribution in La Mesa, Councilmember Jack Shu seeks to utilize Juneteenth (June 19th, 2021), a day symbolizing emancipation from slavery in the United States, as a goal to achieve vaccine equity. Based on the data from San Diego County, minority communities are receiving the vaccine at a disproportionately lower rate compared to the rest of San Diego despite being affected the most by COVID-19. Many minority leaders state that insufficient technology and local vaccination sites, structural racism, language barriers, and hesitation among many groups to trust the vaccine provide some explanations for the disparity in vaccination rates.

An effective strategy may be collaborating with trusted community members to spread information to minority groups about the COVID-19 vaccine. With this in mind, Councilmember Shu hopes to partner with community leaders and organizations, like faith groups, educational institutions, and businesses in order to facilitate the spread of information about the vaccine to groups who may be struggling to access COVID-19 resources. Specifically, Councilmember Shu expects that school teachers will help distribute vaccine information to the families of students, that business leaders in areas low in vaccination rates provide insight on how to reach vulnerable populations, and that each organization in La Mesa asks their members to promote the vaccine to those who need it.

Councilmember Shu is pursuing this community-based approach to achieve vaccine equity so that everyone in La Mesa is involved and no one is left behind. While social media is sometimes effective, ultimately we will reach those who need the vaccine most through individual communication: by daughters speaking to their parents, by grandsons speaking to their grandmothers, and friends speaking to each other. This is an “all hands on deck” approach. For citizens of La Mesa, our journey to ending the COVID-19 pandemic does not stop at receiving the vaccine; we must help public health providers spread information and get members of our community vaccinated so that we end the pandemic for everyone.

San Diego County Health and Human Services sites:
https://www.sandiegocounty.gov/content/dam/sdc/hhsa/programs/phs/Epidemiology/COVID-19%20Vaccinations%20Demographics.pdf
https://www.sandiegocounty.gov/content/sdc/hhsa/programs/phs/community_epidemiology/dc/2019-nCoV/RaceEthnicity.html

8130 Allison Ave. La Mesa, Ca 91942    TEL: 619.463.6611  Fax: 619.667.1131