Town’s Future Phase 1b Vaccine to Target Minority Population
The mission of the alliance, based at African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, is to address “systemic barriers to Black communities’ access to care with an integrated, faith-based, health care advocacy network.” by Cassandra Day, The Middletown Press, Conn. / February 2, 2021 TNS
(TNS) - City officials are partnering with members of Middletown s Ministerial Health Fellowship at the local AME Zion Church to address concerns about the COVID-19 vaccine.
The mission of the alliance, based at African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church at 440 West St., is to address systemic barriers to Black communities access to care with an integrated, faith-based, health care advocacy network, according to its website.
The coronavirus has ripped a hole through many Black families, among them the Williams family of suburban Hartford. Leroy Williams, the family’s 89-year-old patriarch, and his 57-year-old son, Jerry Williams, both died in December.
Merrill Gay helped his elderly mother, sequestered alone at home, make an appointment last week to get a coronavirus vaccination.
Meanwhile, the thousands of child care workers who are members of the coalition he leads, the Early Childhood Alliance, have been told they will have to wait more than a month for their turn to make an appointment.
“A person living by themselves isn’t really high risk,” said Gay. “It’s really easy to slip into the, ‘Oh yeah, old folks are more likely to die from this,’ as opposed to looking at the data and [asking], ‘Well, demographically, are they really? ”