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'Make vaccine access as easily available as possible' | Community efforts underway to improve vaccine equity

Officials say vaccination and booster rates among Black communities are lower, they're hoping to get everyone protected ahead of a possible fall or winter surge.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Since the start of the COVID-19 vaccine rollout, there have been concerns about equity. Vaccination rates among minority communities have been lower for several reasons, including historic vaccine hesitancy.

The Mecklenburg County Health Department has been working in those communities to educate, encourage and ensure equal access to vaccines.

Every knock is an opportunity.

“Five days a week we’re still out talking to people about COVID," Robert Dawkins with Action NC said. "The popular misconception is since this strain has been less serious than the original strain that it’s something not to worry about."

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The nonprofit has partnered with the county and volunteers have been hitting the pavement since last January, hoping to open the door to get some of the most vulnerable vaccinated and informed. In July of 2021, the county started the doses to doors program.

“It’s not gone,” Dawkins said. “In fact, there have been spikes, it’s an up and down here in Mecklenburg County.”

Volunteers are focusing on specific neighborhoods, those with lower vaccination rates and higher case counts. They’re handing out fact sheets, not trying to pressure people but hoping to educate them and encourage them to protect themselves ahead of a possible fall surge.

“We continue to see lower rates of vaccine uptake for COVID-19 as well as booster update in the African American community," Dr. Raynard Washington, Mecklenburg County Health Director, said. "So, our teams continue to work on the ground here to encourage residents and to make vaccine access as easily available as possible."

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The county is constantly updating its messaging based on what the volunteers hear from community members while door-knocking. They’re hopeful it will resonate with more community members hearing it from someone who looks like them.

“There’s a commonality that people have with people that not only look like them but share their history,” Dawkins said. “It’s easier for an African American to say look we have a history of diabetes, a history of high blood pressure, I have this in my family, you don’t want to get COVID because this just exacerbates the situations.”

The county also has teams handing out at-home tests and masks and is still holding vaccine clinics out in the community in an effort to get every neighborhood protected.

Contact Chloe Leshner at cleshner@wcnc.com and follow her on FacebookTwitter and Instagram.

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