Department of Health Services Launches Influenza Vaccination Campaign Targeting Latinas Older Than 50
The Department of Health Services in cooperation with Spanish-language media company Univision on Monday launched a statewide public education campaign encouraging Latina women older than age 50 to get flu shots, the Stockton Record reports. About 54% of California Latinos ages 65 and older receive flu shots, compared with 70% of whites in the same age group, according to DHS surveys. The Latina 50+ Flu Campaign features radio and television advertisements that feature the message: "Vacunese contra la gripe. Hagalo por usted. Hagalo por su familia," or "Get a flu shot. Do it for yourself. Do it for your family." DHS Director Dr. Diana Bonta said, "We need to dispel myths that continue to exist. Flu vaccines cannot give people the flu," adding, "The risk of a rare allergic reaction is far less than the risk of severe complications from the flu." Jose Rodriguez, executive director for El Concilio, or the Council for the Spanish Speaking, said that the flu shot campaign addresses a problem that the council has been concerned with for several years, the Record reports. "So many times it's the caregivers who focus on everybody else's health rather than their own," Rodriguez said (Goldeen, Stockton Record, 11/4).
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