Mass vaccination event aimed at closing vaccination gap in Latino communities

COMMERCE CITY, Colo. — Community leaders are working to increase the number of vaccinations in Colorado’s Latino community with a mass vaccination event April 16 and 17 at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park.

The office of Governor Jared Polis partnered with Centura Health, Mile High United Way 211 Help Center, Culinary Creative, Tap & Burger and the Colorado Rapids to organize the event, which will vaccinate 5,000 people.

To register for a vaccine, click here. Appointments are available from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day.

People vaccinated during this event will receive the Pfzier/BioNTech vaccine and they’ll need to return for their second dose either May 7 or May 8.

Despite making up about 22% of Colorado’s population, Latinos only make up 8.25% of the state’s vaccinated population, according to the latest data from CDPHE. Meanwhile, nearly 72% of immunized Coloradans are white.

Latinos have been disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Data from the CDC show that Latinos have been three times more likely to be hospitalized with COVID-19 than white people, and twice as likely to die from the virus.

As Rocky Mountain PBS reported in our story on a Durango family, frontline jobs and multiple families or generations living in one household make social distancing or quarantining a great challenge for many immigrant families.

“We’re not all positioned equally when we’re facing a crisis,” said San Juan Basin Public Health Director Liane Jollon.

Public health experts say vaccinations are the key to ending the pandemic, especially as variants, or new versions of COVID-19 continue to spread. These variants now make up a majority of the new COVID-19 cases in Colorado, according to state epidemiologist Dr. Rachel Herlihy.

Vaccines are open to any Coloradan ages 16 and up. Find a vaccine provider near you at this link.