ANAHEIM, Calif. — More healthcare workers are being vaccinated against COVID-19, including workers at clinics. 

One clinic that has been serving the communities of East Los Angeles and a COVID hot spot in Orange County recently started vaccinating its employees.

Anaheim is not only a city with some of the highest number of COVID-19 cases in Orange County, it also has a higher number of people who said they do not want the vaccine.

Overall, on average, 58.1% of Orange County residents indicated they are willing to be vaccinated. In Anaheim, that figures drops to 49.8% to 54.3% of residents who indicated they are willing to get a COVID-19 vaccine.

AltaMed, a clinic that serves a large Latino population, found in a survey of more than 26,000 county residents that Hispanic, non-Hispanic, Black populations are among the least willing to get a COVID-19 vaccine.

"All of this has happened so fast and it is new. And it’s natural for people to be hesitant,” said Dr. Talamantes, the chief operating officer at AltaMed.

The physician said the hesitancy does not necessarily mean people will not get the vaccine. Dr. Talamantes said the key to getting more people to get a COVID-19 vaccine, is to build trust in the community.

He started the process by going first and being one of the first employees at AltaMed to receive a vaccine.

“It is very important that we in these communities are role models for everyone,” Dr. Talamantes said.

He received the first of two doses of the Moderna vaccine on camera because he wanted to show that he trusts the vaccine for himself and his family. Dr. Talamantes is hopefully his trust will translate into the community.

“Historically there’s always been mistrust of medical systems,” he said.

According to Dr. Talamantes, one of the trust issues when it comes to vaccines is who was included in the clinical trials.

“Sometimes if we’re not included in those studies, we don’t trust it. And the fact that this study and this vaccine, has allowed for it to be more inclusive, will help relieve some of those trust issues,” he said.

Andrew Mungai, who lives in Anaheim, said he is hesitant to get a COVID-19 vaccine. He said he feels the vaccines were rushed out and worries. 

“It’s not going to do enough and you’re still going to catch COVID-19,” he said. “If the experts are willing to take it themselves and show the people it’s good for us, then I feel like people should be willing to take it, myself included.”

However, Mungai said he has no plans to go first though.

Dr. Talamantes was more than willing to be first in line and received his first shot recently as a socially distanced, masked crowd applauded. He will have to wait a few weeks for his second dose. But with his first dose done – he said he’s looking forward to when the devastation from COVID-19 can stop that he has witnessed for nearly a year now during this pandemic.  

Dr. Talamantes was excited to get his vaccination started and excited for about 900 of his coworkers to also get it. He is most excited for his patients and the community to also be vaccinated.

“[That is when] we really begin the end of this pandemic, with the vaccine,” he said.