LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Getting people vaccinated continues to be a work in progress in Clark County.
Community groups are doing that with outreach efforts, but one group is standing out as far as its members vaccinated.
Written on the walls at Shanghai Plaza are words of encouragement in several different languages. All saying why someone got the vaccine. The prevailing theme: Family.
“I think about my grandma. I think about my neighbor, for me protecting myself is also protecting them," said Eric Jeng, director of outreach with the Asian Community Development Council.
He says the vaccination clinic at the plaza has been a success over the past two months, encouraging people, especially those in the Asian American Pacific Islander community to get vaccinated.
“We have collaboration with the Korean association, the Chinese association, the Filipino nursing association and for today we had the honor of working with the Sri Lankan Las Vegas association,” Jeng said.
The collaboration has paid off. The Southern Nevada Health District showing about 53% of the AAPI population in Clark County getting at least one dose better than any other racial group by percentage in its June 9 snapshot.
Jeng says many in the AAPI community are first-generation immigrants who hears from family members of dire situations in countries that have struggled to get vaccines, despite demand.
“We all know someone back in Asia that still needs a vaccine. We’ve seen how precious it is and how grateful we are to have the access to vaccines,” he said.
Jeng says their outreach efforts can be a way for other community groups to encourages others, especially communities of color to get their shot.
“It comes down to meeting our community where they are. That’s why we’re in Chinatown where a lot of people come up for lunch and they come up here and get their vaccine and for their reward, they get boba tea,” he said.
They will continue to be a pop-up vaccination clinic at Shanghai Plaza every Sunday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. If you’d like to make an appointment, details are here.
