At a ribbon-cutting event to open a new mobile vaccination pod on Thursday, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser announced the creation of a COVID-19 vaccine outreach workforce.
“Going forward, we need an all hands on deck approach to ensure every eligible person in our community claims their free COVID-19 vaccine,” Bowser said.
Starting Monday, the city will partner with seven different local, community-based organizations that received DC HOPE grants. Each organization will create a team of 150 people that will be “dedicated to engaging unvaccinated residents and helping them make a plan to get vaccinated,” according to a news release.
“The vaccine is free. It is easy to get. But this work to reach more people is urgent — we still have people dying of COVID-19, most of the people dying in D.C. are Black, and it doesn’t have to be this way,” she said.
The release said that the teams will also collaborate with local faith leaders, barbershops, beauty salons and youth organizations in order to “hear residents’ concerns, share accurate and reliable vaccine information, and follow up with residents after making plans to get vaccinated.”
The organizations include:
- Anacostia Coordinating Council
- Check It Enterprises
- Congress Heights Community Training and Development Corporation
- Far Southeast Family Strengthening Collaborative
- Latin American Youth Center
- Marshall Heights Community Development Organization
- National Association for the Advancement of Returning Citizens
Bowser encouraged D.C. residents to sign up for the city’s third D.C. COVID-19 Community Corps Day of Action, which will be held on Juneteenth (June 19). Residents will be canvassing in communities that have not yet been vaccinated to help them make an appointment.
Canvassing shifts will begin at 9 a.m. and 11 a.m.
The ribbon-cutting event was held at Mary’s Center Fort Totten Clinic in Ward 5 on Thursday, where a new mobile vaccination pod was opened. The pod has four units and can vaccinate up to 400 people a day.
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