Pop-Up Vaccine Clinic Caters to Spanish-Speakers

OXFORD, Miss. -- North Mississippi Primary Healthcare, Oxford Specialty Clinic, and the Lafayette County Spanish Resource Center are making COVID-19 vaccines more accessible to the local Spanish-speaking community. 


The pop-up clinic at Oxford Community Market and the Charger Clinic at Oxford High School have administered COVID-19 vaccines to community members and high school students as well as their families. 


Members of the Lafayette County Spanish Resource Center help by providing their translation services. “And we thought, you know, we have all of these different talents, what if we could match the needs that our community has in Lafayette, in Oxford, in the University, with all these great people who have this incredible expertise who speak Spanish fluently,” says Sarah Campbell of the LCSRC. 


Healthcare workers are grateful for the assistance. Oxford School District’s head nurse Meg Hayden says, “I’m not sure how we would have made it through last school year or the start of this school year without having the Charger Clinic to support our medical needs here in the school district. So, it’s been amazing.”


Nurse Hayden also says that having translation services empower Spanish-speakers to make their healthcare decisions by allowing them to better understand the resources available to them. 


Mississippi remains one of the least vaccinated states in the country. According to census data, Mississippi has a Hispanic or Latino population of about 100,000 people. The Mississippi Department of Health says that about 32,000 Hispanic Mississippians have been fully vaccinated, for a rate of about 32%. This is slightly lower than the state’s rate of fully vaccinated individuals which is about 40% .


COVID-19 vaccines remain available at local pop-up clinics, pharmacies, and doctor’s offices.


This story was initially reported by NewsWatch Reporter Anna Caroline Barker.