PHOENIX (3TV / CBS 5) – More and more Arizonans are getting the COVID-19 vaccine, but the vaccination rate continues to vary across the valley. Phoenix doctor Christopher Ray is trying to change that by offering the Moderna vaccine to those on the fence about a vaccination. He uses his personal experience with COVID to get people to make a decision.
“I could have lost my life,” says Ray. “It was one of the worst points or periods of my life.” Ray’s own journey with COVID didn’t end when he left the hospital. “I still had PTSD. I was scared of going to sleep,” says Ray. “I thought I was going to die.”
Ray still associates feelings of fear and isolation with COVID-19. When he decided to close his office for eight days to open a vaccination clinic, he wanted to make sure that fear and isolation were replaced with trust and transparency. “We removed all of the obstacles that most people deal with,” says Ray. “And we make sure they can just come in and get vaccinated.”
When the Southwest Wellness Group talks about being comfortable, it starts as soon as you walk through the front door. To sign up, all you have to do is tap the button a few times and you don’t even have to make an appointment. So you know where you are on the waiting list. Then the Southwest Wellness Group is here to help you with the next steps.
Nurses, pharmacists, and technicians are just a few of the volunteers who participated in the mass vaccination sites. But now they get personal, even details as specific as valet parking to keep a person’s car cool are taken into account. “It’s more of a collective care that is provided to the patient,” says Ray. “And you will be able to feel that.”
About 20 people showed up on the first day of the clinic. Ray hopes that number will be closer to three thousand after the eight-day event is over. Regardless, this is just the first line of clinics he has come to expect that can make the vaccine not only more accessible to underrepresented areas, but also less objectionable.
“Essentially, we want to create a model in which we can replicate the model,” says Ray. “I don’t want anyone to know what I’ve been through. And whatever I can do to help, I’m ready.”
For more information on this current clinic, please visit vaxphx.com.
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