Currently, a little over has received a COVID-19 vaccination.
That number drops materially for Black Americans. In Kentucky, for example, only 4.3% of the Black community has been vaccinated.
Of those that have already been vaccinated against COVID-19 in Jefferson County specifically, 11% are Black and 79% are white, which compares to the county鈥檚 baseline population of 20% Black and 73% white.
UofL Health is trying to bridge this disparity, setting up popup vaccination clinics in West Louisville, South Louisville and parts of Metro Louisville. Its initial clinic opened last week at Community Missionary Baptist Church in Louisville鈥檚 Newburg neighborhood, .
It opened another clinic this week at Kingdom Fellowship Church off East Broadway. they were hoping to get 100 people signed up, but the number so far has exceeded 800. 聽
There is a history of distrust toward vaccinations within the Black community, dating back to the , when Black men were deceived and treatment was withheld. Other historical events, such as the unwanted sterilization of African American women, have made some Black Americans distrustful of the COVID-19 vaccine, as Kentucky Nurses Association CEO Delanor Manson .
However, distrust is not the biggest hindrance this time around. Findley told WHAS 11 that it is more about access than apprehension.
UofL Health鈥檚 efforts are critical to address not only those access gaps, but also to help people who are disproportionately聽affected by the pandemic. Black Americans are to become infected with COVID-19. Further, across all age brackets,聽聽than it is for white people.聽
鈥淚f you look across those communities, they鈥檝e suffered a significant amount of disease burden from COVID-19 and we need to have the vaccine鈥檚 deployment match where the disease is,鈥 UofL Health Chief Medical Officer Dr. Jason Smith told WHAS11.
that he has overseen triple the amount of funerals in 2020 than he鈥檚 ever done.
鈥淚t鈥檚 been absolutely heartbreaking. And this [popup clinic] is just something I find 鈥 it鈥檚 a no-brainer 鈥 it has to happen,鈥 he said.
鈥淚 think when we look at the numbers and how COVID-19 has disproportionately affected Black and Brown communities, I think that these kinds of events, these types of pop-up vaccination sites, are absolutely critical to us saving lives in areas and in neighborhoods in our city that are feeling left out and are seeing so many of our loved ones die,鈥 Findley told Spectrum News.
UofL Health has also addressing some of the most common questions about the vaccine.
UofL Health is working with 20 churches to create such clinics and plans to continue them through the summer.
Photo courtesy of .
