GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — A West Michigan organization is pushing to get more people vaccinated against COVID-19, especially in communities of color. The Grand Rapids African-American Health Institute is hosting multiple clinics a week over the next two months in an effort to vaccinate as many people as possible.
"I am here to get my second Pfizer shot," William Alvin Gray says.
Gray got his first COVID-19 vaccine a few weeks ago after waiting it out and doing his research. He got his second shot at the institute's clinic Friday afternoon.
"I made a conscious decision to come over and take it myself," he says. "I tend to believe that I've seen enough death happen to individuals who have not been vaccinated."
Ashlie Jones, Senior Program Coordinator with the Grand Rapids African-American Health Institute, says the clinic is available for people like Gray.
"It may have taken them a little bit longer, but that's okay," she says. "That's what the clinics are for."
Since the beginning of the year, the organization has hosted multiple opportunities to vaccinate as many people as possible. This week, they've seen older people getting their second booster because of the recent approval of the shot.
"There's still a portion of community that is still interested in making sure that they're doing the work," Jones says.
Young people have also visited the clinics too.
"Today, specifically, we did have a young man that came in, I think he was around 10 (years old)," she says. "It was the second shot for him of a series."
In Michigan, the African-American community has the lowest vaccination rate with 45 percent having had their first shot. Jones says with every clinic they run, even if only one person comes, they're making a difference.
"We encourage them to still do it (If they're) scared because there's someone here to support them," she says. "You know, the African American community at large, we have a tremendous opportunity to take back the power of in the value of our our health, like our health is our wealth. And it isn't something that we have to wait for someone else to give us access to. It's something that we can readily access as a community. And then as one teaches, another goes back, right. So you just continue to empower one another to be great in that space because it's so important."
The next vaccine clinic is coming up Tuesday, April 5th at the Baxter Community Center in Grand Rapids, and the institute has more vaccine clinics coming up through the end of May.
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