SEATTLE — Efforts to vaccinate black, indigenous and people of color are popping up in neighborhoods all across western Washington.
Seattle's Central District neighborhood will have a pop-up COVID-19 vaccine clinic at Emerald City Community Seventh Day Adventist Church on Sunday.
Kerry Holifield, program director for the Center for MultiCultural Health in Seattle said Sunday's clinic was made possible because of funding from the CDC's "Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health" program.
"We have the opportunity to help people get vaccinated and help the community understand why it's so necessary to get vaccinated to protect themselves and the rest of the community," Holifield said.
A report released in February by the Washington State Department of Health revealed the highest disparity was among the Hispanic population with only 4.7% vaccinated even though Hispanic people make up over 13.2% of Washington state's population.
The report showed only 2.2% of the Black community was vaccinated even though Black Washingtonians make up 3.9% of the state population.
"We serve a community that before the pandemic already faced insurmountable health disparities," Holifield said.
Sunday's clinic will be the first of five pop-up vaccine events CMCH will organize throughout the year.
About 300 Pfizer vaccines will be available on Sunday to people who make an appointment before arriving.
"We have representatives from all cultures speaking a plethora of different languages," Holifield said. "We want to make sure that people have the space and the opportunity to receive the vaccine."
Holifield said even though the event is meant for underserved communities, they will not turn anyone over age 16 away if they have an appointment.
To sign up for an appointment visit the CMCH website.