HIALEAH, Fla. – Rigoberto Montesinos, a veteran of the Bay of Pigs invasion in Cuba, was so worried about side effects from the COVID-19 vaccine that he initially wasn't going to get it, relenting only when two friends died from the disease.
But when he finally decided to get the shot, the 82-year-old couldn't find doses where he lives in Hialeah, a Miami suburb that's about 95% Latino.
He got an appointment in nearby Miami Beach, but it was canceled. After struggling for weeks, Montesinos got his first dose last week. "At my age, and with the virus spiking, I can’t be putting myself at risk,” said Montesinos, a Cuban exile who helped try to overthrow Fidel Castro in 1961.