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![(LEFT) ER nurse Adwoa Blankson-Wood pictured near the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, wearing scrubs and a surgical mask; By October, Blankson-Wood was required to don an N-95 mask, protective goggles, a head covering and full PPE to interact with patients.](https://kcet.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/96ffa3a/2147483647/strip/true/crop/730x411+0+0/resize/768x432!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fkcet-brightspot.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2F7f%2F6a%2F5478ac334c0da2db2bc88b28ffd5%2F603863ea69a7c6000919fdac-eight.jpg)
Most of the time, I was able to frame conversations within the context of the virus and not race, telling patients that we were doing our best, trying to be the heroes they kept calling us. But I was dying inside .... It was easier to find solace in my job, easier to be just a nurse, than to be a Black nurse.
![Perez takes a break during his therapy. He could barely breathe when he was admitted to Los Angeles County’s Harbor-UCLA Medical Center in early June of last year.](https://kcet.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/652d2c4/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1350x759+0+11/resize/768x432!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fkcet-brightspot.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Ff3%2F98%2F69a94fdf4c9380ccaf6d7d72fc26%2Fcovid-rehab-8-1350.jpg)
Vicente Perez Castro, a 57-year-old cook from Long Beach, could barely breathe when he was admitted to Los Angeles County’s Harbor-UCLA Medical Center. At a certain point, the doctors told his family that he wasn’t going to make it. Months later, here he was — an outpatient at Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center in Downey, the only public hospital in the county whose main mission is patient rehab.
![Farmworkers who harvest and pack bell peppers in the Coachella Valley listen to Montserrat Gomez explain the benefits of the covid vaccines.](https://kcet.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/28986b2/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1618x910+0+85/resize/768x432!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fkcet-brightspot.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2F90%2F10%2F79ad7c6340b8b8f8c6407450eaed%2F1-feature-image.jpg)
Even though farmworkers are vulnerable the coronavirus, many hesitate to get the vaccine, worried the shot could have severe side effects or signal their whereabouts to immigration officials. Immigrant advocates in the Coachella Valley and other farming regions are visiting workers to try to allay their fears.