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鈥淥ur message today is that the vaccines are the best shot that we have at ending the pandemic,鈥� said Baltimore City NAACP President the Rev. Kobi Little at a news conference Wednesday afternoon.
In partnership with the Baltimore City Chapter of the NAACP, the Maryland Department of Health is driving a truck covered in informational banners with loud speakers that blare messages in English and Spanish to encourage residents to get vaccinated. The trucks will roam through communities in the 21223, 21213, 21205, 21216 and 21217 zip codes through Sunday.
Representatives from the Department of Health and NAACP will hand out masks and information sheets in coordination with the truck鈥檚 journey.
According to the Baltimore City Health Department鈥檚 vaccine dashboard, all of the zip codes targeted by this campaign have some of the lowest vaccination rates in the city.
This is a revamp of the truck鈥檚 original fall campaign, which urged residents in Baltimore鈥檚 21224 zip code to get tested and participate in a contact tracing program.
鈥淲e know that it鈥檚 effective,鈥� said Dr. Mark Martin, deputy director of the Maryland Department of Health鈥檚 Office of Minority Health and Health Disparities, noting that 3,000 information sheets and approximately 1,000 masks were handed out during the truck鈥檚 fall run.
Martin credited the booming sound from the truck鈥檚 speakers for reaching people both on the street and inside their homes. And he said he 鈥渄id hear鈥� that some people went out to get tested because of the messages broadcast in English and Spanish.
鈥溾�t鈥檚 one of these targeted micro-strategic ways of trying to reach people right where they are,鈥� Martin said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 what we鈥檙e about, and so we鈥檙e just really glad that it鈥檚 back out.鈥�
Martin said that experts and community leaders have noticed a hesitancy in communities of color to get vaccinated against COVID-19.
鈥淥ur messaging has been to push the vaccination messaging, utilize trusted voices in the community 鈥� of Black and Brown clinicians 鈥� to speak to the efficacy of the vaccines and to build confidence,鈥� he said.
A big part of that effort, Martin said, is the Vaccine Equity Task Force, led by Maryland National Guard Brig. Gen. Janeen Birckhead. The task force works with local health departments and faith- and community-based organizations to offer pop-up vaccination clinics in what Martin called 鈥渉ard-to-reach鈥� communities.
鈥淲e can鈥檛 be everywhere at every time, but we have great community partners that we rely on who stand shoulder-to-shoulder with us as we continue to fight this pandemic,鈥� he said.
Little said that vaccine inequity is rampant in Baltimore.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city鈥檚 population is 63% Black and 32% white.
As of May 25, just 39% of the city鈥檚 fully vaccinated population was Black, while 43% was white, according to the Baltimore City Health Department鈥檚 vaccine dashboard.
鈥淚nstead of having a two to one ratio 鈥� we have essentially almost a one-to-one ratio,鈥� Little said at the Wednesday news conference. 鈥淚n order to get equity, that means that we need the state, the city and healthcare institutions to lean in and to help us reach the people in our communities.鈥�
鈥淏ut it also means that in the Black community and in the Brown community, we have to have the kitchen table conversation, and the neighborhood stoop conversation, and the church Zoom conversation with our friends and our families and our neighbors to say: 鈥楾he vaccine is the best shot that we have at ending this pandemic. If we don鈥檛 take action, then we will continue to be vulnerable for infection,鈥欌�� Little continued.
Community organizations have been at the forefront of this fight in the city.
Tiffany Majors, president of the Greater Baltimore Urban League, appeared at the news conference Wednesday to promote a free vaccine clinic her organization is holding on June 12.
People who receive vaccines that day will get their second doses on July 10.
Ashiah Parker, executive director of the No Boundaries Coalition, helped get 31 people vaccinated last Saturday at a celebration of life event held to honor community members lost to COVID-19 in the past year.
鈥淲e were very excited about that,鈥� she said, 鈥渂ut we know it鈥檚 more than 31 [people who need access to the vaccine].鈥�
Parker said that 鈥済reater effort鈥� and 鈥渆asily available funding鈥� is necessary to 鈥済et the word out and to actually get vaccinated.鈥�
鈥淚 just want to put it out there to the state and to the local government that, as the community is doing this work to make sure that we are all safe, it does take resources and true equity which means scrambling to make sure that vaccine is available,鈥� she said.
