A community health worker program launched to help combat the spread of Covid-19, and rethink how health information is delivered.

ON A WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON IN JANUARY, DOZENS OF PEOPLE ARE LINED UP OUTSIDE GROCERY OUTLET IN SEASIDE WAITING TO GET A RAPID COVID-19 TEST. It’s a line that ranges from 20 deep to wrapping around the building. The day before, a line wrapped around the block at a rapid testing site at La Chiquita, a market just up Fremont Boulevard.

A group of community health workers from the VIDA Project are working under a small tent, geared up with masks, gloves and wearing matching blue T-shirts. They’re helping people sign up for tests, swab and then producing results in a matter of minutes, to the hundreds of people showing up at each testing site each day during the omicron surge.

VIDA was a program launched to combat the impacts of Covid-19, specifically among the most vulnerable population in the county. It’s a collaborative program, integrating workers from different local organizations including Lideres Campesinas, The Village Project, Building Healthy Communities and others.