Language, cultural barriers could fuel vaccine hesitancy, Quebec community organizers warn

Quebecers have rarely gone a week without hearing from their premier at least twice during this pandemic. What's allowed, what isn't, the exceptions to the rules instructions from the province have changed at a dizzying pace, even for experts and journalists whose job it is to keep up.

But many of those who do not understand Franois Legault's predominantly French-language news conferences, or other material put out by the province,turn to community groups to get the latest information in their own language.

The province, according to some in those communities, should do more to bridge those cultural gaps especially as vaccination efforts pick up.

"At times, we feel like there could be better communication," said Andy Crilis, president of theHellenic Community of Greater Montreal, whichpublishes newsletters withthe latest public health instructions in Greek.

"We need them to put a different campaign in place. We need to have them to put a campaign that's a little more personalized and targeted to the elderly."

Better communication, he says, would help overcome some of the reluctance, among some seniors in his community, to get a COVID-19 vaccine.

Otherwise,Crilis and others are concerned that many people will go unvaccinated.

'Massive' campaign

Quebec Health Minister Christian Dubrecentlyacknowledged theprovince needed to reach out to different communities to overcome vaccine hesitancy, especially within certain community groups.

That's why,a spokesperson for Dub told CBCNews,the province launched a "massive awareness campaign," featuring ads in media outlets meant for various ethnic groups, and information online in 21 languages about the pandemic and vaccinations.

Language and cultural barriers contribute to a reluctance to get vaccinated, according to Fatima Tokhmafshan, a science communicator with COVID-19 Resources Canada, a group that aims to bolster the country's pandemic response through research and volunteer work.

But translating public health information is only part of the solution.

"The biggest challenge is trust Anybody can put anything on Google Translate," Tokhmafshan said.

"[For many people] in marginalized and underserved communities, because of the fact they don't feel really welcome, because of culture and historical reasons, they get a lot of their information from internal circles, from sources that are either associated with their own culture or identity,"Tokhmafshan said.

The English-speaking, Black seniors who make up most of the membership at the Genesis Community Foundation in Montreal have relied on their familiar support system to keep up with the changing pandemic rules.

"In some cases, they don't know, they're hesitant, they're afraid, so they tend to reach out when they're unsure," said Erica Cadogan, the executive director for the group that's helped Black seniors deal with food insecurity and social isolation for about 25 years.

"They know us, they trust us, and they believe in us."

According to Cadogan, the seniors she works with are split along three lines about COVID-19 vaccines.

"Category one is they're going to run out and get the vaccine, they don't have any hesitation We have another category of, they want to take the vaccine, but they don't want to go take the two shots, so they're going to go for the one shot," she said.

"We have another category where they're hesitant. They don't know, they don't believe, they don't trust."

The group, along with the Hellenic Community, is one of many that are settingup webinarsthis monthwith health-care professionalsin hopes of helping their members get answers to their questions.

'We are overwhelmed'

The executive director at CAFLA, a group thathelps Latino immigrants transition into Quebec society,says their office phone is constantly ringing.

"The rules change day to day, the changes are coming fast, fast" said Cecilia Escamilla. She says the pandemic has made people who speak neither French or English more vulnerable than ever.

The group has spent the last several months scrambling to get familiesthe most updated pandemic instructions in Spanish, she says.

"If there's a press conference from Mr. Legault, there will be instructions to follow. Those instructions, we have to translate them the same day," Escamilla said. "We've always known that if someone can't speak the language, they can't work But never did we think that, one day, we would be living through a pandemic."

She says many of CAFLA's clients who want the vaccine arehaving a hard timenavigating the province's website to book their appointment, with some are resorting to providing their personal information to staff by phone so others can reserve their spot for them.

"We are so overwhelmed," Escamilla said. "But we're here."