When the COVID-19 vaccines first rolled out, some communities were overlooked. So, our KNX Helpful Honda Hero of the Week worked day and night, to make sure distribution was fair and equitable!
Felipe Osorno is an Executive Administrator at Keck Medicine of USC. In early 2021, he was asked to lead the COVID-19 vaccine efforts for all staff members within the health system.
"It was chaotic, because at the beginning we were just trying to get the vaccine, trying to figure out how to give it," explains the married father of two. "About a month and a half in, we realized that we had huge inequities and disparities among our own staff. We noticed, specifically, that people of color in our cleaning crew, our cafeteria and parking [crews] were getting vaccinated at much lower rates."
"The hospital was at about a 60% vaccination rate in January and February. And, these teams were at 25%! The gap was gigantic. I'm happy to share that we've basically closed that gap, and the hospital is now at about 93% vaccination rate." (This happened early in 2021; since then, the state of California made it law that all healthcare workers must be fully vaccinated.)
During the rollout, Felipe became a personal ambassador. “I was able to answer any questions, and address any misinformation that's out there."
His team also invited the families of staff members who were 65 and older to get vaccinated as well. "We had this amazing day, where we invited our teams to bring family members to get vaccinated," says Felipe. "We had a huge showing!"
On that particular day, more than five hundred people were inoculated. Felipe and his team also set-up community vaccination events.
"We had a shuttle running from Mariachi Plaza in Boyle Heights, to the hospital. We did door-to-door campaigning and flyering. One of the things we realized was that everything was digitally driven for the vaccinations," explains Felipe. "We all wrongly assumed that that made it equitable. There's a lot of folks with technology access barriers."
Felipe is a first-generation immigrant from Colombia, and two of his family members died after contracting the coronavirus. Keeping members of the LatinX community healthy during the coronavirus has been a big part of Felipe's story. "It's very heartwarming! Because it was folks that look like my parents and my grandparents, coming to get their shots!
He now leads a health equity committee for Keck USC, and continues to bring awareness about vaccine disparities. Felipe Osorno is our KNX Hero of the Week!
KNX Heroes is brought to you by California Resources Corporation, saluting our military veterans, and all of our heroes! Go to https://www.crc.com/ for more information.
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