LOUISVILLE, Ky. — As hospitals and the city of Louisville closed down their large-scale vaccine operations this spring, the health department rolled out mobile clinics to try and reach pockets of the city with low vaccine numbers. Ciara Warren is the mobile missions director for the department.
What You Need To Know
- The health department has rolled out mobile clinics to reach parts of the city with low vaccine numbers
- The department's mobile missions director said some events have been "hugely successful"
- Other clinics, however, have seen much lower turnout
“This is just what was needed to get more into the community and get those hard-to-reach folks and bring it to them,” she said during a Monday virtual interview. “Most of them don’t have transportation or access, so, we are trying to make it as easy as possible to bring them the vaccine.”
Warren said 70% of Lousiville’s adults are vaccinated, but some neighborhoods have much lower rates. Children are another issue for Warren’s efforts. According to the health department’s website, only a quarter of kids ages 10-19 have been vaccinated. We asked Warren about the response to the clinics.
“In the beginning, it started very strong. It’s kinda gone in waves,” she answered.
“Park DuValle and the NAACP, we had a hugely successful event there on Saturday. So, it’s those type of events that are what’s gonna get us farther along in this.”
But, after a Saturday wave came a dip at the next clinic. We visited Monday’s vaccination site at the Louisville Public Library an hour before it was scheduled to close. The room was empty — quiet, even by library standards.
Neither patients nor health workers were there. Library workers confirmed the clinic had been running earlier. A health department spokesperson said workers might have closed early because of low turnout. For the next hour, two people showed up looking for a vaccine.
One man, who wished not to be interviewed, said he worked as a plumber and found more and more businesses were requiring vaccinations. He said he had felt protected until that point because his wife and in-laws were vaccinated, but wanted to make his life easier by being able to prove to others he was too.
Tyrone Bripht came from the West End to be vaccinated and said he was concerned about the new delta variant and wanted to be protected.
“The new one that’s supposed to be three times as contagious as the other one,” he said in the library hallway.” So, I just feel that I need to get this done.”
Leaving without a vaccine, he said he’d try again the next day at the next clinic location.