Fort Worth’s lowrider community offers COVID-19 vaccines and a PSA: Take the shot
At an upcoming vaccine clinic in Diamond Hill, community leaders are hoping they can encourage more than 100 people to take the COVID-19 vaccine, in a neighborhood where only about 35% of residents are fully vaccinated against the coronavirus, according to state data.
But the message isn’t coming from health care workers, local hospitals, or elected officials: It’s coming from the United Lowrider Council, the Diamond Hill community group that supports the neighborhood’s longstanding lowrider culture.
Saturday’s vaccine clinic was organized by a large coalition of different institutions and leaders from the Diamond Hill and Northside neighborhoods, said Gino Ayala, a spokesman and member of the United Lowrider Council and longtime Diamond Hill resident. In addition to Ayala, a campaign video features Officer Nestor Martinez, president of the local chapter of the Latino Law Enforcement Organization, and Albert Trujillo, who owns Fort Worth Billiards Superstore.
The coalition is trying to tackle one of the main barriers that’s kept their neighbors from getting vaccinated, Ayala said.
“It’s a trust factor, and I just don’t believe that the trust factor has been out there in the communities,” Ayala said. “Not just our communities, but other communities.”
Ayala, Martinez, and their peers are following the advice that public health experts have offered since the beginning of the vaccine rollout: In communities with less access to health care, some people might be more distrustful of the COVID-19 vaccines and their safety. So, instead of offering the shot from large, impersonal institutions, get community advocates to build trust in individual communities.
In the campaign video, Martinez and others proudly say they’ve received their vaccines, and encourage those watching to do so as well.
“We all knew that our voice was going to be a little stronger when we were all together,” Martinez said. “And when we actually showed people that, hey, if we did it, you can definitely do it.”
Ayala and his peers are working desperately to increase vaccinations in the Diamond Hill and Northside neighborhoods, where more than 80% of residents are Hispanic, according to census data. They’re also working to reverse a painful trend of the pandemic: Even as Diamond Hill remains one of Fort Worth’s most under vaccinated, it’s also borne the brunt of illness and death in the community.
“Everybody was losing loved ones, somewhere down the line,” Martinez said.
Ayala and his entire family were infected last year, he said, and his wife became so sick that he thought he would lose her. His wife’s father, sister and nephew all died from the respiratory disease, he said.
For months, elected officials and health care experts have been working to distribute the COVID-19 vaccines as quickly and equitably as possible. But as the delta variant drives COVID-19 hospitalizations back up again, Fort Worth and nation are facing a difficult truth: Without high uptake of the vaccines, the virus will continue to mutate and spread, and the toll will mount. Black and Hispanic adults still remain less likely than white adults to have received the vaccine, according to a report from the Kaiser Family Foundation.
Over the summer, Ayala began talking with other community leaders, including Roxanne Martinez, who represents Diamond Hill on the Fort Worth’s school board, and Ricky Cotto, the director of community engagement for the Blue Zones Project, along with other business and local leaders.
Through Texas Health Resources, which works closely with Blue Zones, the group is offering vaccines at Trail Drivers Park in Diamond Hill on Saturday. Cotto said organizers are hoping to give out 120 vaccines Saturday. If the model is successful, Cotto said he hopes to take it to other neighborhoods in the city. Texas Health Resources has partnered with community groups throughout Fort Worth and Tarrant County to offer pop-up clinics, but Cotto said he thought Saturday’s clinic was bringing together the biggest coalition of community groups.
“This is how you build trust,” he said. “Instead of us going into somewhere, and we go in there and tell you what to do, we get community leaders and ask: ‘What’s the best way to do this? You guys steer it and we support it.’”
MORE INFORMATION
WHEN: 10 a.m. - 4 p.m., Sept. 11
WHERE: Trail Drivers Park, 2502 Guenther Ave.
- Anyone 12 years of age and older is eligible. It is recommended that you pre-register by calling 1-855-318-7696, but not required.
- If you haven’t yet received a COVID-19 vaccine, you can find locations and more information at vaccines.gov. If you have questions about the COVID-19 vaccine or how to get it, reach out to cmccarthy@star-telegram.com and the Star-Telegram will help you get answers.
This story was originally published September 10, 2021 at 12:00 PM.
