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Brazos Valley groups step up to get underserved communities vaccinated

Groups like Amigos of the Brazos Valley, Hispanic Forum, Santa Teresa Catholic Church are getting community members registered for the COVID-19 vaccine.

BRYAN, Texas — More people are signing up to get the COVID-19 vaccine and groups in the Brazos Valley are working to make sure it’s accessible to everyone. 

“The population that we work with and people that are our friends and neighbors, senior citizens especially, [many] do not have access to email and the internet," said Dora Cruzan, the president of Amigos of the Brazos Valley.

Amigos is a senior citizen advocacy group in Bryan/College Station. It provides seniors with activities, opportunities and information for resources.

Cruzan said when she got her vaccine a few months ago, she noticed a problem. 

“I could see there was nobody there of color," Cruzan said.

Cruzan started her own outreach to members and discovered they had issues when it came to signing up and learning about the vaccine. As vaccine rollouts continued, Amigos got dozens of more phone calls asking for help with similar situations. 

"We’re just going to have to do our own registration for the community," Cruzan said.

Amigos, along with the Hispanic Forum of Bryan/College Station, United Way of the Brazos Valley, Brazos Interfaith Immigration Network and Santa Teresa Catholic Church have been working together to serve the underserved when it comes to COVID-19 vaccinations.

RELATED: Bryan church hosts vaccine registration event for Spanish speakers

Many of the people the groups work with don't have internet access, don’t have a flexible work schedule or have other obstacles that prevent them to get registered.

Members are even offering rides to the Brazos Center for people who have scheduled appointments.

“It’s just a time to work and collaborate in our community," said Jaime Cavazos, the president of the Hispanic Forum of Bryan/College Station. "It’s about stepping up to do the right thing.” 

The community groups also work alongside the Brazos County Vaccination Taskforce to get credible information out into the community.

"We keep educating them, telling them where it comes from, why it’s good and whoever needs the vaccine that there is access for them to get the vaccine," Cavazos said.

Cruzan said as vaccine eligibility opens up even more in Texas, it is important to get the most susceptible, such as older populations, registered and vaccinated as soon as possible.

"The way we see it is, we're not going to go get over this until everyone is vaccinated," Cruzan said. 

Several of the community groups are at La Michoacana (Hwy 21 and Texas) every Saturday from 2 pm - 5 pm to get people registered for the vaccine.

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