SEATTLE — Dian Ferguson has seen first-hand the hesitation people have regarding the COVID-19 vaccine.
Ferguson, the director of the Central Area Senior Center in Seattle, said she also sees seniors who want the vaccine struggling to get an appointment.
The senior center hosted the clinic in partnership with Safeway and the First African Methodist Episcopal Church to vaccinate 400 people on Thursday. Of those, Ferguson said 200 will go to members of the senior center and another 200 will be given to workers with the African American Reach and Teach health organization, congregants of Mt. Zion Baptist Church and First African Methodist Episcopal Church.
The clinic partnership with Safeway is designed to help get the vaccine to seniors in underserved communities. Ferguson said many of the senior center's members are Black, a group impacted disproportionately by the pandemic.
"We tend to be more essential workers, the post office, the grocery store, the caregivers; different things like that with the least ability to have accessibility to getting the vaccine. And so it's just been detrimental to our communities because we're dying at a younger age," Ferguson said.
Safeway's Patient Care Services manager, Susan Tegart, said once vaccine supply increases, the company plans to host additional clinics with senior centers and organizations in underserved communities.
"Right now, we're contacting senior centers where we have helped during the pandemic, either with food deliveries, Meals on Wheels, those type of organizations where, you know, access is really, really limited, whether it be the language, transportation, access, whatever it may be. We're trying to target those groups so that they can either come into our pharmacies or we do the clinics," Tegart said.
The clinics are not open to the public. Tegart said Safeway will provide a link to sign up and the organization can help its members select a slot.