JCPS hosts vaccine clinic at Newcomer Academy

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) - JCPS continues working to provide COVID-19 vaccines among students and staff, hosting another vaccine clinic on Sunday.

At Newcomer Academy, English is taught as a second language to the several different languages spoken at the school.

The district is using its translators and resources to educate families about the COVID-19 vaccine.

Juana Sartaominto speaks Spanish. She brought her two children to the vaccine clinic to get their first shots.

WAVE News worked with a translator to talk with her.

“I brought them here just in case they get sick, maybe the symptoms will now be less,” Sartaominto said through the translator.

Her son Christian is in the eighth grade and her daughter Katie is in the fifth grade. Both said they thought the prick of the needle would hurt worse than it did.

“When I got the shot, it didn’t hurt at all,” Christian Ruiz said. “It just hurt like a little sting.”

“If [my friends] are scared, I would be like ‘it doesn’t hurt that much’,” Katie Ruiz said.

School officials said at Newcomer, each vaccine clinic brings more parents and kids. School staff attribute the boost to word of mouth and community partnerships.

“We are doing things such as reaching out radio stations, social media and anything we can do to get those families the information they need,” JCPS Health Services Nurse Angela Hayes said.