Lluliana Flores wanted to get the COVID-19 vaccine, but she didn鈥檛 know how to register. Fortunately for Flores, she got a call from her local community health clinic letting her know they could sign her up. That outreach, she said, made all the difference.
鈥淚 know a lot of people who are worried they鈥檒l die if they get the vaccine because that鈥檚 the information they鈥檝e heard from others,鈥� said Flores, who added that she didn't want to be persuaded by that misinformation. 鈥淵ou end up being influenced by that and then you start to panic.鈥�
Last month, Flores was one of 200 people who received their first shot of the COVID-19 vaccineat a park in Waxahachie. Baylor Scott & White Health organized the event as part of its mobile vaccination program. The idea is to eliminate as many barriers to getting the vaccine as possible. Taking the vaccine to the community at a neighborhood park, for example, might make residents feel more comfortable than say a sterile vaccination hub.
Niki Shah, vice president of community health for Baylor Scott & White, said she and her team look at various factors to determine where it makes sense to take their mobile vaccination program.
鈥淥ne of the things that we do is we look at where the hubs are. We look at the data to see what is the percentage of people that are being vaccinated,鈥� Shah said. 鈥淲hat are their backgrounds? What are their demographics? Where are they from? Then, where we see gaps in some of that, we really go in and figure out how do we help that particular community.鈥�
Shah said Baylor worked closely with the Hope Clinic in Waxahachie, a federally funded healthcare center that treats patients regardless of their ability to pay. Churches, faith-based groups and other community organizations also helped to identify people who were eligible but hadn鈥檛 been vaccinated.
鈥淲hen we made phone calls, we would even say, 鈥業鈥檓 calling on behalf of Pastor Cooper,鈥� or 鈥業鈥檓 calling on behalf of Waxahachie Care鈥� and the people that have talked to those organizations then were at least willing to talk with us,鈥� Shah said. 鈥淭hat trust level was there because of the trust they have in the organizations.鈥�
Baylor staff and volunteers took their vaccination registration efforts on the go too. One day, they signed up people in the carpool line outside a nearby elementary school and they registered teachers too. They even walked over to nearby Burleson Honey 鈥� a honey production and packing plant 鈥� and signed up employees there.
At the recent vaccination event, 78-year-old Mildred Sargent said she was nervous about getting the shot. But she was also thankful.
鈥淚t was fine because at first I said I wasn鈥檛 going to do it and with all the problems I do have, I said I need it,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 feel like everybody who have any kind of illness in their body, they need it.鈥�
Alex Arroliga, chief medical officer for Baylor Scott & White, said even as the vaccine becomes more widely available, this kind of outreach will be crucial, especially in Black and brown communities.
Nationwide, Blacks and Latinos have been hardest hit by COVID-19.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not that the pandemic caused that,鈥� Arroliga said. 鈥淭he inequalities in the healthcare system have been there for a long time and that鈥檚 something that needs to be fixed. The pandemic basically shined a light to those inequalities.鈥�
Arroliga said it can鈥檛 just be up to one person, one nonprofit or one hospital to make sure the majority of people are vaccinated.
鈥淲e need the community to do its part,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t needs to be the healthcare systems and the community and the community has to be engaged, has to assume responsibility, has to understand that the only way out is by achieving good numbers in the vaccination rate.鈥�
To keep marching towards that, more mobile vaccination events are planned for north and central Texas in the coming weeks, including a return to Waxahachie to give the second dose of the vaccine.
Got a tip? Email Stella M. Ch谩vez at schavez@kera.org. You can follow Stella on Twitter .
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