Vacuna! (Part 1)
Today when I arrived at the Centro de Salud, the nurse who has taken me on said that today I could come with her on a vaccinating trip. Which was very exciting. Every day 1 or 2 of the nurses from the Centro go literally door to door through the town of Santiago Atitlan to vaccinate children who are behind in their vaccines. Here is what happened:
The nurse, who is wearing traditional dress for Atitlan, and an assistant put on their outfits from the Ministry of Health which consist of a bright orange hat and navy vest emblazened with the ministry seal.
And then we set out, we walk a few blocks from the Centro de Salud to the spot where they had left off that morning. We walk down an alley-way which is barely wide enough for one person and the nurse knocks and yells “VACUNA!” (VACCINE!)
The door opens and inside are a man, a woman weaving and a now very scared looking 5 year old boy. The next part of the conversation takes place in the Tzutujil language, but clearly the father says to the boy “Do you want a vaccine?” and the boy says a very definite no. The nurse holds out an uninflated green balloon that he’ll get as a bribe, and so (unlike children we encountered later), he didn’t run away, or scream. He just put on his bravest look until it was over and he safely had his balloon.
And then we continue on down the street, offering Vacunas and having children eye us suspiciously, like the opposite of the ice cream man.
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Cathy
I can picture it all! Great entry.
Dave
How many kids actually got vaccines? Are enough being vaccinated to successfully prevent outbreaks? Don’t know much about epidemiology, but it seems a critical mass need to be inoculated to prevent the spread of disease.
Great work Jesse!
Jesse@IHF
Dave- It’s little by little about 10 kids per day. It is a hugely labor intensive process they are using. The only saving grace is that once they are completely vaccinated they stay vaccinated!