Dominicans in New York are confident in the efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccine

Dominicans living in New York City are confident of the effectiveness of the VID-19 vaccine and assure that they will come to get vaccinated in the appropriate period. This is confirmed by a survey carried out among readers of Diario Libre USA who live in that city.

The expected COVID-19 vaccine from the pharmaceutical company Pfizer/BioNTech, arrived in the Big Apple a few weeks ago, this is the first state where it was applied for the first time in the whole USA.

Days later the FDA approved the Moderna dose, which shows “high effectiveness” for critical cases.

In a state where coronavirus cases are still on the rise and hospitals are overcrowded, the Latino community has been the minority hit hardest by the health crisis. According to the Fiscal Policy Institute of New York, by November the unemployment rate increased to 19% due to the closing of restaurants, bars and entertainment centers, where the staff is mostly Hispanic.

While the U.S. Department of Health reported in July that 35% of coronavirus deaths in NY were Latino and the numbers continue to rise.

But despite the controversy that the vaccine has generated in different sectors of the New York population, Governor Andrew Cuomo assured Wednesday that 89 thousand people living in the state have already received the first dose, and it is expected that by February the general population will begin to be vaccinated.

On several occasions, Cuomo mentioned that he himself will be in charge of getting the doses of the vaccine to the Latino, African-American and Asian minorities.

However, because of the haste with which it has been approved, there are those who have appropriated theories that are far from science and have disregarded the recommendations of the FDA and other organizations, and they categorically refuse to go to vaccination centers and receive the necessary doses to obtain immunity to the virus.

However, in a survey of Diario Libre USA readers living in New York City, where 52.50% are women and 45% are men, between the ages of 30 and 45, mostly born in the Dominican Republic (95%), 52.5% are willing to be vaccinated against COVID-19, either with the Pfizer or Moderna dose.

Seventy percent of those interviewed were pleased with the announcement of the vaccine’s approval, while 27.50% said it was the same for them and the remaining 2% had not heard of its approval.

57.50% said they had never been infected with COVID-19, while 42.50% had been infected by the time they responded to the survey.

However, although 52.50% responded that they would be vaccinated, when and how they would be vaccinated was split. 42.5% said they would wait to see how the vaccine would react in others before doing so, 15% said they did not want to be among the first, 35% said they would get vaccinated immediately, and 7.50% said they would not get vaccinated.

As for the measures imposed by the city authorities to stop the spread and future outbreaks of COVID-19, 65% consider the measures to be good, 27.5% said they are not working and the remaining 7.5% said the measures are very strict.

Finally, most of the Dominicans who agreed to the survey live in The Bronx (45%), Manhattan (5%), Upper Manhattan (7%), Brooklyn (5%), and 30% in other counties.

This survey was conducted from December 13-20, 2020 to a total of 100 readers of Diario Libre USA.

Contagion and positivity continue to rise
New York is in the midst of a second outbreak of coronavirus and authorities have taken extreme measures to curb this new wave of contagion, which according to the city’s mayor, Bill de Blasio, dates back to the Thanksgiving festivities.

Authorities have recommended that New Yorkers stay in their homes this Christmas, and eat dinner with other family members who do not live in the same home, maintain the use of the mask, and a minimum distance of six feet.

For now, restaurants are closed and can only receive take-out or pick-up orders.

According to data from the Coronavirus Center at Johns Hopkins Hospital, New York has a total of 828,000 accumulated cases and 6,864, with a positivity of 6.29%.

In the last 24 hours, 2,890 new cases and 201 new hospitalizations have been reported.