LYNN — It was a morning of worship and learning Sunday, as the largely-Spanish church Ministerios Vision Cristiana partnered with Dr. Catherine Reyes of the Lynn Community Health Center to educate the congregation on the ongoing vaccination process.
After the usual services at the Ministerios Vision Cristiana on Union Street, which included song and dance to a live Spanish-language Christian rock soundtrack, Dr. Reyes — who has worked at the Lynn Community Health Center for five years — spoke on common myths associated with the vaccine, how to get vaccinated, and who is eligible.
“I know that there are some people that are worried about the vaccine,” said Dr. Reyes to the crowd of about 100 worshippers. “I already took two doses, and both my parents took their first doses.”
She explained that the vaccine is available to people who qualify regardless of their immigration status and free whether or not they have health insurance.
“It is important to target the messages through someone that people trust,” said Dr. Reyes. “(Those whom) a lot of people trust are their church leaders.”
She also felt that it was useful to speak to church groups also because of their reach. The service Sunday was broadcast to hundreds of people, both in person and virtually.
Dr. Reyes hoped that her information would dispel misconceptions about the dangers of the vaccine.
“For everything we do medically we’re looking at risk versus benefits. And the risk of not getting vaccinated is getting ill with COVID,” said Dr. Reyes. “And we know that a certain percentage of those people get really ill. And some of them die. So not getting the vaccine has risks.”
“The risk that scientists have found in the vaccine is very low compared to the possibility of getting COVID and dying,” said Dr. Reyes. “What matters is saving lives, and the vaccine is really, really doing that.”
She also emphasized the importance of reaching the hispanic population, which has been struggling to access the vaccine, and was disappointed at the way that the state had handled equity in vaccine distribution.
“Right now the biggest problem is lack of access, for people who are not great at signing up for things online and who are not fluent in English or who have concerns about putting their information up on a website,” said Dr. Reyes. “We have to ensure that we have equitable access and the one size fits all approach of the state is not doing that at all.”
She pointed to problems with translation on the state website, which makes it more difficult for non-English speakers to sign up for vaccines, and the state’s failure to target the hardest hit communities like Lynn more directly.
This is the third weekend that Dr. Reyes has partnered with faith organizations to deliver vaccine information.
Key to this outreach is Pastor Eduardo Cacéres, who coordinated much of the outreach between the Health Center and the faith community.
“I have a lot of connections with the Hispanic pastors in the city. We had a meeting with the doctor to try to start to share information about the vaccine,” he said. “A lot of people, because of their faith, don’t want to get the vaccine, so we want to give them confidence in the importance of getting vaccinated.”
Of Dr. Reyes, he said that she was “well-known in the city among the Spanish speaking population,” which will make it easier for her to reach them.
Pastor Alejandro Matul of Ministerios Vision Cristiana, who conducted the service, hopes that the vaccination process will lead to a return to life before the pandemic.
“When everyone gets vaccinated, everything can go back to normal,” said Matul. “The pandemic has been difficult for spiritual life because people need to get together and interact.”
Matul has offered his space as a vaccination site, if necessary.
The state is currently in Phase Two, Group Two of the vaccination distribution process, under which people with two or more certain medical conditions and those over the age of 65, along with residents and staff of low-income and affordable senior housing can be vaccinated.
These conditions include cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, down syndrome, heart conditions, weakened immune systems, obesity, pregnancy, sickle cell disease, smoking, type two diabetes and asthma.
Those who qualify can schedule an appointment at the Lynn Tech Vaccination site.
In the next group, the vaccine will become available to many other essential workers. A full list of those who will be eligible will be available on the state website.
Willy Gomez, 22, who has been involved in the church his entire life, saw Reyes’ message as vital for the rest of the congregation to hear.
“At our church almost nobody speaks English and everyone is kind of old school. When people start to talk about new science, they often don’t understand it,” said Gomez.
“It’s important to remember that God gave doctors the wisdom,” said Gomez, who also translated Reyes’ message for the congregation. “God guided everyone who studied the vaccine.”
