Equality NC is hosting a Vaccine Informational via Zoom, June 3 at 6 p.m. Facilitators will be aiming the presentation at providing COVID-related resources to LGBTQ individuals in rural areas. Equality NC has posted on their Facebook page that they will be visiting LGBTQ-centric spaces to discuss the importance of the vaccine.
COVID-19 has affected everyone in either a direct or indirect way and Equality NC has made it their mission to help all those recovering from the effects of the pandemic. These effects have, however, manifested in the LGBTQ community in a way different from that of the general society.
According to a study conducted by psychiatrists Debanjan Banerjee and Vasundharaa Nair, LGBTQ-identified individuals who have been affected by the [COVID-19] have their “emotional and psychosexual well-being impaired, with increased risks for psychiatric disorders and suicidality.”
In this study, Banerjee and Nair emphasize that LGBTQ individuals “are particularly vulnerable to not only the infective risks of the virus, but also the psycho-social offshoots of the global lockdown and the pandemic aftermath.
“The various factors range from the immunocompromised state, increased comorbidities of sexually transmitted diseases, other chronic medical disorders and substance abuse, reduced access to health care; to stigma and social discrimination, administrative apathy, economic constraints, and uncertainty of social rituals like the Pride Celebrations.”
LGBTQ individuals continue to be more at risk for COVID-19 and they are also less likely to seek vaccinations. Equality NC is hoping to rectify these statistics by engaging community members and providing information about where to get the vaccine, how to deal with its affects, and why it is important to do so.
To RSVP for the Equality NC Vaccine Informational Zoom session, go to bit.ly/3v2NW4l.
To read Banerjee and Nair’s study “The Untold Side of COVID-19: Struggle and Perspectives of Sexual Minorities,” go to bit.ly/3osdntA.
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