OGDEN, Utah – Despite technical difficulties and a shortage of staff, the Weber-Morgan Health Department is making sure residents who face communication barriers are getting information on the COVID-19 vaccination process.
This is the team answering thousands of residents’ calls at the Weber-Morgan Health Department.
“We also ask for our community to be patient with us, as we try our best to get back with them, in a timely manner especially with all the calls and emails coming in,” says Jesse Bush the health promotion director for the Weber-Morgan Health Department.
According to Jesse Bush, there are about 2,000 people needing one-on-one help to schedule a COVID-19 vaccine appointment and only 10-12 people answering phones.
“We usually look at 10-20% of that list and get them signed up so that they can also get the vaccine,” says Bush.
The department is also reaching out to those with language barriers and disabilities.
“For those in our Spanish speaking populations we do community outreach every week, once a week, to go out and help people get signed up,” says Bush.
Bush says staff is even taking calls Saturdays and Sundays to help residents.
“Our community health workers have gone out into our local neighborhoods and put out tables to help people who may not know what’s going on with registration who also speak Spanish so they can communicate,” says Bush.
And they are in need of volunteers, whether you have been vaccinated or not.
“We do anticipate the number of clinics increasing over the next few weeks especially as we anticipate the increase in doses, potentially coming through the state to the local health departments,” says Bush.