To help with community education and equitable vaccine distribution, Monroe County leaders have announced a COVID-19 vaccination task force.
The task force will collaborate with community leaders and organizations to share accurate information as more vaccines are made available.
Dr. Nancy Bennett, director of the Center for Community Health and Prevention, and Wade Norwood, CEO of Common Ground Health, will help lead the efforts alongside county health commissioner Dr. Michael Mendoza.
Norwood said people will need to receive accurate information from more than just county leaders, and the task force will rely on community resources like barbers and hairstylists to help spread the message.
“There must be a program and community effort aimed at full transparency about the development of the vaccine," said Norwood. “And a commitment to the extraordinary effort required to bring fact-based education about the safety and the advocacy of the vaccine to all residents.”
Norwood admitted that he initially was skeptical of the vaccine and praised Strong Memorial Hospital patient transporter Carlos Ramos for stepping up to be the first in the area to receive it on Tuesday.
He said the reason why transparency is important is because of a deep history of skepticism among communities of color.
"That’s why this effort is so very important," Norwood said, "because again the burden of the disease is being disproportionately born by communities of color.”
Bennett said their mission is about equity and equal access. She added that the task force will be available to answer any concerns people may have about the vaccine.
“It's a campaign almost in a political sense of the term,'' said Bennett. “In how we really want to get everyone to come together. And to think about how we can best meet their needs and be sure that we can protect our entire community from this virus.”
Bennett said they hope to be able to spread the word to different parts of the community.
Mendoza said the county currently has a small number of vaccines, and they are still months away from vaccinating the general public.
He added that as they receive more vaccines, the task force will ensure that they are fairly distributed.
