Santa Cruz County, CA — Community Bridges and Salud Para La Gente have made it simple for individuals looking to get an appointment for the COVID-19 vaccine. Through Community Bridges’ Bridges to Access Vaccine Helpline and Salud Para La Gente’s vaccination clinics, the agencies have joined in the effort to get the vaccine to as many people in the community as possible. Community Bridges vaccine helpline staff and volunteers will facilitate vaccine appointments for the public at Salud Para La Gente’s COVID-19 vaccine clinics.
“When we took on this project we set out a goal of ensuring everyone in the community has equitable access to the COVID-19 vaccines,” said Community Bridges CEO, Raymon Cancino. “By making the process as simple, painless and easy as possible we are eliminating the barriers caused by technological access and language. With our Bridges to Access Vaccine Helpline and Salud Para La Gente’s vaccine clinics we are one step closer to achieving that goal.”
“The collaboration between Community Bridges and Salud Para La Gente will help ensure vaccine equity and that our most vulnerable populations have access to the COVID-19 vaccine sooner than later,” said Salud Para La Gente Chief Executive Officer, Dori Rose Inda.
According to the latest data provided by the California Department of Public Health, there have been 263,597 vaccines administered to Santa Cruz County residents. About 40% of residents have been fully vaccinated and about 57% have received at least one dose.
“The more people get vaccinated, the closer we are to reaching herd immunity and getting back to normal,” Cancino continued.
Anyone interested and eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine in the tri-county area can contact:
· Community Bridges’ Bridges to Access Vaccine Helpline
Telephone Hotline: (831) 219-8607
Language Services: Spanish, English
A team member will return phone calls within 48 hours.
· Salud Para La Gente
Texting Service: Send the text VAX to (831) 728-0222
Telephone: (831) 728-0222, option 7
Language Services: Spanish, Mixteco, English
ABOUT COMMUNITY BRIDGES
Community Bridges envisions a thriving community where every person has the opportunity to unleash their full potential. Together, our family of programs delivers essential services, provides equitable access to resources, and advocates for health and dignity across every stage of life. To learn more, please visit www.communitybridges.org.
The Community Bridges family of programs includes the Child & Adult Care Food Program, Child Development Division, Women, Infants and Children (WIC), La Manzana Community Resources, Live Oak Community Resources, Mountain Community Resources, Nueva Vista Community Resources, Elderday Adult Day Health Care, Lift Line and Meals on Wheels for Santa Cruz County. For more information on the Bridges to Access Vaccine Helpline visit, https://communitybridges.org/covid19/.
ABOUT SALUD PARA LA GENTE
For forty years, Salud Para La Gente (Salud) has made sure our community has had a doctor when it needed one. Salud was founded in 1978. It began as a single free clinic offering healthcare primarily to farmworkers living and working on California’s Central Coast. Since that time, Salud has become a federally qualified health center (FQHC), and grown to six clinics and six school-based health centers providing affordable, high-quality healthcare to nearly 27,000 patients. For more information about COVID-19 vaccines and testing at Salud Para La Gente visit, https://splg.org/patients/covid-19/.
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