Can interfaith outreach bridge the COVID vaccination gap?

With vaccination rates dropping, Charlotte officials are working with faith leaders and grassroots organizers to engage residents who are hesitant to take the vaccine.

On Tuesday, the Faith & Vaccine Initiative, which helps faith-based communities use their platforms to communicate essential vaccine information and move toward equitable vaccine access, announced its receipt of a $200,000 donation from the Duke Endowment.

The Faith & Vaccine Initiative emerged from a partnership between Bridge Builders Charlotte, a network of campus-community partnerships connecting across religious differences, and the Interfaith Youth Core, a national nonprofit that supports interfaith leadership by partnering with higher education institutions and corporations.

The grant will fund 15 faith communities and nonprofits to work with 30 student ambassadors from local university campuses to build bridges of trust and access to the vaccine, said Suzanne Watts Henderson, director of Bridge Builders Charlotte.

Roof Above, a nonprofit focused on ending homelessness, has also joined the Faith & Vaccine Initiative to boost vaccination rates among the homeless in North Carolina, said Liz Clasen-Kelly, CEO of Roof Above.

National vaccination tour

Tuesday’s announcement came as part of EPA Administrator Michael Regan’s visit to a pop-up vaccine event at Movement School Eastland in Charlotte. Regan, an N.C. native, was joined by Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles and Dr. Cameron Webb, Senior Advisor for Equity on the White House COVID-19 Task Force. They celebrated vaccination efforts in Mecklenburg County and urged leaders to keep working to get more residents vaccinated.

The event was part of the “We Can Do This” National Vaccination Tour, one of the many initiatives under Biden’s ‘National Month of Action’ campaign, which aims to boost vaccination rates to 70% of US adults receiving at least one dose by July 4. About 65% of US adults have received at least one dose so far, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control.

“We’ve come a long way in the fight against COVID-19, but we have a long way to go. And it’s especially true for our under-served communities who were hit the hardest by the pandemic,” Regan said.

North Carolina lags

In Mecklenburg County, it has been a challenge to vaccinate residents between 20-40 years old, and African American and LatinX communities continue to lag behind, Gibbie Harris, Mecklenburg’s public health director, said at the event.

About 47% of Mecklenburg County has received at least one dose of the COVID vaccine, which is slightly ahead of the 44% across North Carolina, according to recent data from the NC COVID-19 Dashboard. North Carolina is ranked 38th for the percentage of the state population that is fully vaccinated, according to a recent report by the White House COVID-19 Team.

“We have a little bit of catching up to do, but I know we can get there. That Carolina come-back is real,” Regan said.

The average number of people getting a first or single dose each day has been declining nationally since mid-April, the federal Centers for Disease Control says. The average number of people getting their first or second doses has fallen by more than 50 percent since mid-April.

“It’s no longer ‘if you build it they will come.’ Those people have come,” Webb said.

Regan outlined ‘National Month of Action’ initiatives, which include free childcare for individuals getting vaccinated, free Uber and Lyft rides to vaccination sites, and extended hours at pharmacies across the country every Friday in June to offer more flexible appointment availability.

Making it personal

“We are at the point now where it has to be person to person, where we really have to be able to talk to people, understand what their concerns are and why they are hesitant to be vaccinated, and do what we can to help them understand the need for the vaccination, its safety, and efficacy,” Harris said. “We are doing more in the community, door-to-door canvassing and helping people get their questions answered.”

Action NC, a non-profit focused on reducing inequity through grassroots organizing, had volunteers at Tuesday’s event canvassing the neighborhood to let them know the pop-up vaccination clinic was nearby. The non-profit has been using political organizing techniques to encourage residents to get their vaccines, said Meko McCarthy, an Action NC volunteer at the event.

“It has to get incredibly local, hyper-local… that’s where this becomes more like a campaign,” Webb told the Observer.

Rev. Sonia Lee, founder and executive director of Lionel Lee Jr. Center for Wellness, was also invited to speak. Having been paralyzed for four weeks after taking a flu vaccine, she was understandably hesitant to get the COVID vaccine at first.

“I’m the kind of person that you have to show me that it’s OK, and I’ve seen that it’s OK,” Lee said.

Lee is now fully vaccinated and is sharing her story to allay the fears of people who are still reluctant to get the vaccine.