COVID-19 Vaccine Training for CHWs of H2N Project
Graphic by: Jennifer Bañarez, AmeriCorps
Written by: Jesslyn Hendrickson
Medical College of Wisconsin-Central Wisconsin, M1
During the COVID-19 pandemic, it has been a difficult time for everyone to understand and work their way around the confusion regarding the emerging COVID-19 vaccines. With the recent release of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, allowing 3 total vaccines in circulation to help in the fight against COVID-19, this confusion has only seemed to grow and cause increasing concern for vaccine safety and efficacy in the community. Hearing this concern, the community health workers from the Wisconsin Institute for Public Policy and Service (WIPPS) and the Hmong and Hispanic Community Health Outreach Influenza and COVID-19 Immunization Initiative partook in an educational Q&A session with Ann Lewandowski from the Wisconsin Immunization Neighborhood (WIN) to learn more about these vaccines in early March 2021. Amongst members of the Hmong and Hispanic populations of the Wausau area, the primary concerns that were addressed included:
Fertility concerns
Appointment procedures
Trusted sources to consult
Speed of vaccine development
Communication methods for Community Health Workers
With our community health workers being recruited from the communities we serve, they are our trusted messengers as well as our eyes and ears so that we may best serve the Hispanic and Hmong communities. We hope that this educational session will help with informing and gaining trust for those who are vaccine hesitant in our communities.
As a medical student, being a part of these trainings has helped me learn immense amounts about how religious and cultural values shape healthcare outcomes. With great thanks to these community health workers, I will take this experience with me so that this can help me become a more reliable and compassionate community physician. It is reassuring to know that all those involved in this COVID-19 vaccine education session are focused and engaged in improving the health and wellbeing of their own communities as well as communities around them.