Tuesday morning Community Development for All People will host a vaccine clinic at their offices on Columbus' Southside.
The nonprofit is partnering with Columbus Public Health to offer doses of the Johnson and Johnson and Pfizer vaccines from 9-11:30 a.m.
CD4AP spokesman Mike Premo said the idea is to leverage the organization’s relationship with the community to get more shots in arms.
“Our fresh market across the street gets over 300 people a day, the United Methodist free store gets over 100 people a day, so we literally plan to just have people who are shopping at both of those places then go up and get their vaccination shot afterward,” Premo said.
County data shows the organization’s neighborhood is doing pretty well when it comes to vaccine uptake. Their zip code is near the middle of the pack for Franklin County with 42.7% of residents that have received at least one dose of the vaccine as of April 27.
But just south of that, in the area covering parts of Merion Village, Hungarian Village and Marion Franklin, the rate of people that received one dose of the vaccine is just 28%. In the zip code to the west, covering neighborhoods near Green Lawn Cemetery, the figure is even lower—only 22.5%.
“Someone may be reluctant to go to a county health office or a clinic or a pharmacy to get vaccinated,” Premo said. “But if their church or a community organization that they trust is opening their doors, they might be more likely to go there and get the shot."
Premo said they’re also hearing from people who have found it difficult to secure transportation for previous vaccination clinics.
“Folks just had a hard time getting to where the vaccines were being provided so we’re hoping by doing it in a comfortable, familiar setting, they know how to get here, that will increase the likelihood that they’ll come out,” he said.
This initial clinic will be small, with just 75 doses available, but plans are in the works for an additional drive in the coming weeks.
