Originally posted on Stamford Advocate
The sidewalks of Selleck Street were lined Sunday with individuals eager to receive the COVID-19 vaccine at the Building One Community headquarters, situated in one of the neighborhoods the state has designated for targeted vaccine distribution.
As the state continues to press for an equitable vaccination process, Gov. Ned Lamont and other officials gathered Sunday to put focus on B1C’s clinic that vaccinated lower-income to moderate-income immigrant families.
“Let me tell you, this doesn’t work unless trusted advocates who people believe tell you that this is the right thing to do for you, your family and your community,” said Gov. Ned Lamont during a press conference outside of the clinic.
B1C Executive Director Anka Badurina explained that the site had roughly 350 vaccines allocated for the clinic, which ran from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sunday.
“About 97 percent of our appointments today are members of the Latinx community,” Badurina told Hearst Connecticut Media. “One hundred of the appointments were folks from the (32BJ SEIU) union. The other 250 are our own program participants. These are people we know from the community and their families.”
The clinic was held in Stamford’s 06902 Zip code, one of 50 outlined by the state late last month as a priority for vaccine distribution. The Zip codes were selected because each ranks high on the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s social vulnerability index, which weighs factors including education, access to health care, housing density and availablity of transportation.
Under the guidance of the Department of Public Health, providers were asked to direct 25 percent of all new vaccines to these locations, which happen to be home to nearly a quarter of the state’s population.
Now two weeks into this effort, statistics released last week by the state show that cities are still behind neighboring communities in vaccinating residents. While Hartford and Bridgeport are among the lowest, with about 11 percent of residents vaccinated, state data shows Stamford has reached nearly 18 percent of its population.
U.S. Rep. Himes, D-4, reiterated that Connecticut is focused on continuing its concerted efforts to allocate vaccines to the areas that need it most.
“Getting people vaccinated, importantly getting people vaccinated in neighborhoods like this one — Communities of color, immigrant-heavy communities — where sadly, all too often, those most vulnerable to COVID-19 are those least likely to get vaccinated,” Himes said.
Though the vast majority of vaccine recipients Sunday were part of the Latinx community, Badurina said the nonprofit also had members from the Haitian and Montenegrin communities attend the clinic.
Since distribution started, the goal of the nonprofit has also been to dispel misinformation over the vaccine in the surrounding community, Badurina said.
“We host town halls to dispel these myths,” she said. “Our work has been to provide information that is real.”
Grace Galarza, a 55-year-old city resident, spent this Sunday, like many other days in the past three years, volunteering her time to aid the nonprofit in helping her community.
She also received her first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine on Sunday, which she said was an easy process.
“This is a great opportunity to help my community, and help all of the people,” she said, adding that her getting vaccinated would inspire others who had questions to follow suit. “This is the area where people need help.”
Dan Wilson, senior program manager for B1C’s Immigration Legal Services, said that the nonprofit is in constant communication with immigrant groups in the area. He said that having healthy community relations has helped with the processes of getting community members tested and now vaccinated.
“There have been no hiccups at all,” Wilson said. He thanked the Community Health Center for their involvement in their efforts.
“We reached out and partnered with (B1C) so everyone has access to the vaccine. Not if you can drive somewhere, or if you can navigate VAMS or if you have ready access to a practice where they offer it, but really bringing that vaccine into the community,” said CHC Vice President Amy Taylor. “We will continue to do this until everyone who wants to be vaccinated, which hopefully is everybody, gets the vaccine.”
U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, who joined Lamont, Himes and Mayor David Martin Sunday morning, also stressed the importance of equitable vaccine distribution.
“This racial justice movement has to be for all of Stamford and Connecticut,” said Blumenthal. “Everyone, regardless of their ethnicity or race, needs this vaccine whether they are documented or not. We will not be safe until all of us are safe.”
Martin said Sunday that a high capacity vaccination site would be opening on Monday, March 15 on the south end of the city. The capacity, he said, will start at roughly 3,500. He said he hopes to expand that by up to 14,000 additional vaccines when the city receives additional supplies.
“The more vaccines we get in this community, the more we will push it out,” he said.