COVID vaccine access key, Milwaukee pop-up clinic gives shots
MILWAUKEE - As COVID-19 vaccinations continue, multiple organizations have one goal -- making the shot accessible to different communities.
That is especially important for those disproportionately affected by the pandemic, including residents of Milwaukee's north side neighborhoods.
The physical part of getting the vaccine is easy, some said, but getting through the personal process wasn't as simple for some.
"I was a little nervous about taking it, with everyone saying you are going to get sick. But I’d rather be safe than sorry," said John Davis.
For Davis, religious beliefs were his delay.
"As a Muslim, I had to check into the ingredients to make sure there wasn’t anything in there that I wasn’t supposed to have in my body," Davis said. "That was one reason to make sure I didn’t go against my religion I found out that it doesn’t."
Vaccine hesitancy is a situation Juwana Kujjo said people are slowly starting to overcome.
"There are many concerns about the vaccine in general, in the effects it has on people, but I think now you’re seeing the positive effects of the fact that it does work," said Kujjo.
That's why Ascension Wisconsin partnered with the Social Development Commission for a pop-up vaccine clinic on Saturday morning, May 1.
"This is a very hard-hit community for COVID," said Brenda Buchanan with Ascension Wisconsin. "Some people are not going to go to a traditional center not going to a hospital, so to bring the vaccine to them...well they don’t have to worry about having insurance, they don’t have to worry about checking in or being in a hospital -- just being in their own neighborhood where they feel comfortable."
Since December, Buchanan has given more than 1,000 shots of the COVID-19 vaccine. She loves to see that number multiply.
"It’s hope. Every shot is hope we can get back to normal," said Buchanan. "Just to have that safety in the people feel like we are moving forward."
The second dose appointments of the Pfizer vaccine will be administered at the same location on Saturday, May 22.