San Diego Mexican Consulate Hopeful New Vaccine Site Curbs Vaccine Hesitancy Among Latinos

Around 100 COVID-19 shots were administered Wednesday at the Mexican Consulate in Little Italy.

Vaccinations at the site are part of a county program offering additional COVID-19 services to San Diego's Latino communities. 

According to county data, Latinos make up 34% of San Diego's population but account for more than half of the reported coronavirus cases in the county. Currently, only 19% of the people vaccinated in the county are Latino. 

“We need to take aggressive actions to make sure Latinos have equitable access to the vaccine,” said Carlos Gonzalez, the consul general of Mexico in San Diego.

Offering vaccines at the consulate is a good place to start increasing the number of vaccinated Latinos in San Diego County, Gonzalez said.

“This is a safe place, a place considered safe by immigrants in this community,” Gonzalez said. “They know that here they will get information that might be useful in their daily lives and that it is a secure place to receive that information.”

Gonzalez said he believes the trust people have in the consulate could help get rid of the hesitancy to get vaccinated that still exists in the Latino community. 

Jorge Zaragoza said he's the first in his family to get the vaccine. He admitted that vaccine hesitancy exists in his family but hopes that after his family sees he got the vaccine, they will, too. 

“I can tell them how my experience was,” Zaragoza said. “It’s not that bad like they were saying."

The vaccine at the consulate is free of cost, whether a patient has health insurance or not, and regardless of immigration status. 

The site will offer vaccines to those with appointments on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.