Press release from Appalachian Mountain Community Health Centers:
On Saturday, February 6th, from 9:00 a.m. until 4:30 p.m., Appalachian Mountain Community Health Centers (AMCHC), a Federally Qualified Community Health Center will distribute COVID-19 vaccines to high-risk ethnic individuals throughout Asheville at the Arthur R. Edington Center (133 Livingston Street). This initiative is in collaboration with “CHOSEN”, a group of community leaders in Asheville whose primary purpose is to implement solutions for the most vulnerable populations within our area.
On Saturday, 325 individuals with pre-scheduled appointments will receive their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. These vaccines will be distributed to individuals who are 65 years and older, and targets ethnicities who have been identified as “high risk”.
Data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) revealed that 30 percent of Covid-19 patients are African American, even though African Americans make up around 13 percent of the population of the United States.
Alex Reinhart, assistant teaching professor at Carnegie Melon University’s Department of Statistics and Data Science, cited many factors for this, such as minority groups being less likely to have access to affordable healthcare and having reduced trust in medicine because of decades of discrimination. “These disparities highlight long-standing gaps in Americans’ access to and trust in medicine, and show that much work remains to be done to ensure everyone has access to healthcare they trust”, Reinhart said.
This same hurdle is found in our local community as well. On a recent call amongst medical professionals and social service providers in our area, it was stated that reaching this population has been challenging.
That’s when the CHOSEN Group and AMCHC came together to partner for a vaccine event targeting the African American community. Once a date was set and appointment times given, members of the CHOSEN Group started calling people in the community 65 years of age and older. In a matter of hours, they had filled half of the appointment slots, and by the next day they had every appointment filled. Members of the group have all expressed that people are grateful for this life-saving chance. Some have been trying to get the vaccine but because of supply limitations and other barriers, they have not had any luck.
One of CHOSEN charter members Micheal Woods said, “It’s all about building relationships and trust. Without these relationships, we would not have been able to make this opportunity possible. Our purpose is to solve problems and bridge gaps.”
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