The D.C. Health Department is starting a new program to use faith-based groups to build trust in the vaccine.
The program is called “Faith in Vaccines,” and churches like Pennsylvania Avenue Baptist Church are doing their part to help prevent the spread of COVID-19.
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The church has set up a small shipping container outside where senior citizens can receive their shots.
Eddie and Ernestine Hamilton recently received their shots at the church and said they are relieved to have been able to make an appointment on the first try.
“It feels good. Because we’ve been trying. We kept calling the D.C. health line and nothing was happening,” Ernestine said.
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The vaccinated population in D.C. may be overestimated in this map because some non-residents who work in D.C. are included in the totals.
The church already has experience helping out during the pandemic, as it has been offering free COVID-19 testing for months. Rev. Kendrick Curry said his goal is to improve access, especially in areas hit hardest by the pandemic.
“Because there is a disproportionate number of people of African American descent, Latin American descent, that are dying as a result of coronavirus,” Curry said.
More vaccine sites are set to open at other places of worship, according to the D.C. Health Department.
Pennsylvania Avenue Baptist Church will hold another clinic on Saturday in an effort to help keep everyone safe and healthy.
