Health Education & Messaging

Immunization rates are lower among refugee, immigrant, and migrant (RIM) communities due to factors which include limited culturally and linguistic appropriate information, knowledge and beliefs about a disease and vaccine, and challenges accessing healthcare (related to cost, transportation, medical system complexity/unfamiliarity, lack of welcoming environment, etc.). Vaccine hesitancy is a significant hurdle to ending the COVID-19 pandemic and getting back to eve

What is a variant?

Viruses are always changing.  When a big change happens, scientists call it a new variant. Some variants disappear and never cause harm, while others can make a virus easier to spread, harder to treat, and/or more deadly.

In the COVID-19 response, some vaccination sites are challenged to vaccinate large numbers of refugee, immigrant, and migrant (RIM) community members due to misconceptions surrounding the COVID-19 vaccine, language barriers, confusion about the registration and administration process, and awareness of existing services. Ensuring access to accurate vaccine facts and information about vaccination sites and the process is critical for these communities.

A key component of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy is misinformation and disinformation about vaccine safety that is combined with fear and uncertainty about side effects. Hearing from known and trusted people about their vaccine experience is useful in decreasing fear and increasing acceptance.

As public interest and questions about COVID-19 vaccines continue to grow, community members are looking to their trusted sources to get accurate and reliable information about the vaccines. Especially for refugee, immigrant, and migrant (RIM) communities, well-established, linguistically relevant media outlets are critical sources to access the most up-to-date guidance.

The availability of accurate COVID-19 information that is culturally and linguistically appropriate is essential to keeping communities safe. Likewise, it is also vital to provide information via channels that community members actively use and trust.

The availability of accurate COVID-19 information that is culturally- and linguistically-relevant is essential to keeping communities safe. Messages change rapidly and some health departments may face challenges with developing health messaging that reaches all communities, particularly refugees, immigrants, and migrants (RIM). 

The availability of accurate COVID-19 information that is culturally- and linguistically-relevant is essential to keeping communities safe. Messages change rapidly, and some health departments may face challenges with developing health messaging that reaches all communities, particularly refugees, immigrants, and migrants. 

The availability of accurate COVID-19 information that is culturally- and linguistically-appropriate is essential to keeping communities safe. Likewise, it is also important to provide information via channels that community members actively use and trust.  

In the COVID-19 response, some sites are reporting challenges in reaching large numbers of refugee, immigrant, and migrant (RIM) community members to disseminate consistent health messaging and awareness of existing services.