On Saturday morning, residents of South Phoenix were given around 120 doses of vaccine during a special vaccination event in Grant Park near 3rd Avenue and Lincoln Street.
The event followed a door-to-door registration and education campaign organized by Wesley Community Health Centers, approximately 30 volunteers, and community leader Mary Rose Wilcox and her husband.
“People trust the neighborhood … they trust the volunteers we send out … they know us and they will sign up for the shot that is their life,” Wilcox told ABC15.
Recent studies have shown that minority communities lag behind when it comes to overall vaccination rates, partly due to decreased internet access and reluctance. Wilcox said she is working to change these findings and hopes this first event will serve as a role model and add convenience in her community.
“What we want to do is if this succeeds … we will hopefully plan one in two weeks,” she said.
Vaccines were given to both drive-up and walk-up patients who pre-registered and qualified according to state guidelines.
“I wasn’t so sure at first whether I should get the vaccine,” Angelina Chavez told ABC15. Chavez and her daughter Cassie were among the first to receive their doses at the Grant Park event, and they both dealt with “pretty bad” cases of COVID-19 over the past year.
“When we got sick and it hit our family personally, it changed our minds,” she said. “Hopefully only someone who listens to us will get the vaccine and not have to have COVID.”
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