¿QPM? S6 Ep. 6 What recovering after COVID-19 looks like for Latinos in the Midwest: Getting Latinos involved.

In this episode we’re going to tell you a story about local Latinos addressing the deficiencies in the US healthcare system magnified by the pandemic. Hablamos de como los Latinos are bridging the language gap - like they always do - this time translating crucial information about the pandemic. Information that has meant the difference between life and death.

In fact, it’s been reported that people have died because of the lack of information made available in Spanish. Un artículo del Chicago Tribune reporta el caso de Maria Isabel Alfaro, a 50-year-old who didn’t speak English and who died after contracting COVID-19.

Maria’s husband, Rodolfo Reyes told the Chicago Tribune que antes de morir Maria “expressed the anguish and desperation she felt because she wasn’t able to understand or communicate with the medical staff”

There’s no way to really count cuántas personas han muerto esta pandemia porque no tuvieron la información necesaria - en su lengua - to understand the ins and outs of this virus. 

Pero algo que si podemos claramente ver es la falta de informacion that is not available in Spanish or has just been made available recently. Like for example; no hace poco, our que pasa midwest team learned that in Indiana the vaccine consent form y otra información acerca de la vacuna was not available in Spanish until April of this year - 2021.

Hi, Paola,

Our goal from the beginning has been to make vaccine information and registration accessible to every Hoosier, which is why we partnered with 211, which has a Spanish line, access to other translation services and also provides assistance for those with hearing or vision impairments. We have provided information in multiple languages from the beginning through our website at https://ourshot.in.gov and continue to add additional materials, including the consent form, and languages; the vendor translated its website into Spanish as quickly as possible while also handling a large volume of work to build vaccination schedules for more than 700 sites around the state. The site is also in the process of being translated into Burmese.

We also are working with community-based partners around the state to engage them to help register people in their native languages. That process is ongoing.

— From : Indiana State Department of Health