The spread of COVID-19 has affected every part of the modern world, but there is light at the end of the tunnel. The collaborative efforts of scientists across the globe helped to come up with various vaccines that have proven to be effective against the virus. But not all people have been convinced to get the vaccine for different reasons. One of them is that there are patients who do not trust the vaccine because they have not received enough information in their native language, so they are unable to make an informed decision.

As an interpreter, there are many ways you can do community outreach and help more people get vaccinated. There are resources in other languages that speak to different information about the pandemic and vaccines, such as WHOs website, Boston Medical Center, Washington State Health Department, or even Orange County’s NC Health Department. Helping others to understand the vaccine and then help them get it is a very important service to the community and one that you can help with.

For an interpreter, first, the most obvious thing to do is set up an appointment to get your vaccine if you haven’t already. To do so, you will be able to be allowed into more places, and you will overall be more comfortable being outside. Though many businesses and areas are beginning to open up again, some places will only let you be present if you are fully vaccinated. By being fully vaccinated, you will be able to be anywhere you need to be. The other advantage is that you will have the experience of being vaccinated so that you feel more comfortable in conveying messages to the patient you are interpreting for. Your confidence might even be able to ease some of their anxiety.

After, you are vaccinated, you can help interpret at clinics, pharmacies, hospitals, or at vaccination areas that are set up outside of hospitals. The places that most likely will need the majority of help are the areas that are set up outside of hospitals. Depending on the population of the area that you are in, there might be a different concentration of non-native English speakers. For example, in California, there is a significant amount of Hispanic people, so there is a great demand for Spanish interpreters. If you are interested in helping as a volunteer interpreter, you can try looking on the internet for places that need interpreters. You could also join a medical hotline that hospitals use when they need an interpreter.

However, you should be careful of scams that might take advantage of you. You can find out if something is legitimate or not by searching it online or by looking at the various resources on the FCC, FTC, or US National Cyber Awareness System. If you do happen to come across a scam, you can report it to the FTC so that they can investigate it and hopefully shut it down so that no one else is affected by it.