CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — COVID-19 infections are on the rise across the country and in Corpus Christi the Hispanic population is being affected significantly. One local health expert says he has noticed this in his own community.
"COVID virus really hits harder among minority communities - Hispanic and African American - so we're very concerned about these already the other information that we have is these communities tend to be not as anxious to get the vaccine as the population in general," Dr. James Mobly of the San Patricio Health Authority said.
According to the Texas Department of State and Health Services, 63,495 cases have been reported as of Dec. 5. And as this number grows, the Hispanic population is seeing the highest percentage of fatalities.
Jose Leal, a member of the Latin X community in Corpus Christi, says while his own family members have tested positive, he is not willing to take the vaccine right now.
“The consensus was that we were not willing to take it for the mere fact that there's not enough trials being done," Leal said. "This is something that's been done very quickly."
According to the Centers for Disease Control, there is no set date on when vaccines being tested will become available for individual use. But Leal says he hopes when that day comes, his community is kept in mind.
"We have to understand we have a lot of people that don't have any income whatsoever, that are not working," Leal said. "They're barely making it by so we have to take that into consideration and make those resources available to them."
Mobly says the most reliable information is coming from the Centers for Disease Control.
"One of the things with the speed this is going we have a number of different vaccines and each will have its particular information," Mobly said.
The Texas Department of State Health Services has more COVID-19 vaccine information.