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Posted on 10/06/2021 11:48:42 AM PDT by lightman
Amid some encouraging news that Pennsylvania’s rate of new COVID-19 cases appears to be leveling off, Gov. Tom Wolf on Wednesday once again drew attention to persistent COVID-19 related health disparities among minority communities.
Wolf used the backdrop of one of the region’s largest providers of health care to impoverished communities to once again urge ethnic and racial minorities to get vaccinated.
“This is a sales pitch,” said Wolf during a press conference held at the Hamilton Health Center in Harrisburg. The center provides care for more than 20,000 underserved central Pennsylvania residents, the majority of them Black or Latino.
Since the beginning of the coronavirus, racial and ethnic minorities have been hit hardest by COVID-19, logging disproportionate rates of illness, death, and especially vaccine rates.
“I make no bones about it,” Wolf said. “We need to get vaccinated. That is our strategy as a Commonwealth and it’s working.”
Wolf made a pitch for an upcoming public vaccination clinic Saturday at the Hamilton Health Center. The event is being sponsored by the Zeta Theta Lambda Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., the oldest Black fraternity in the country.
Anthony Cox, president of the local Harrisburg-based fraternity chapter, said the work is part of the commitment to serve the community and ensure that the vaccine is accessible where people need it most, like the center’s immediate community.
“Come out and fellowship with us and celebrate this good time with us, so we can get back to life,” Cox said. “Let’s continue to fight this fight together.”
Vaccination rates among communities of color persist in trailing that of white residents. Pennsylvania currently ranks seventh in the nation in the number of residents who have received at least one dose of the vaccine, Wolf said.
According to data from the state Department of Health, 69% of Pennsylvania residents 18 or older are fully vaccinated. But as with the national trend, the state’s vaccination rate among Blacks and Latinos is much lower.
According to the most recent data released by the state, 83% of Pennsylvania’s vaccinated population share is white. Only 5% of that vaccinated population is Black; among Latinos the share is 6%.
“Pennsylvania is doing very well but we still have some work to do,” said Wolf. In recent months, the governor has criss-crossed the commonwealth to make pitches for the vaccine at community clinics and workplace vaccine events.
“We have some ground to cover. The COVID-19 pandemic has brought many challenges to the Commonwealth. I have not met one person, including myself, who is happy the way we’ve had to live our lives over the last year and a half.”
Kimberly Craig, who runs the vaccine program for Hamilton Health Center, said its vaccine advocacy and clinics have made a substantial difference in vaccine rates in the immediate community.
The health center has vaccinated 4,000 residents alone, and has worked alongside the Harrisburg School District to vaccinate 20% of the students so far.
“In the beginning we had a lot of individuals who were hesitant about receiving an unknown vaccine,” Craig said. “It was hard to convince them that this was safe. Over time we have been able to convince them.”
Hamilton Health Center has a sizable pediatric program and as such has focused on vaccinating children.
“I think we’ve done a pretty good job of overcoming that area,” Craig said. “School is back in session. We really want to make sure we are helping that age group.”
Wolf said community partnerships like the one led by the health center is helping to chip away at the persistent vaccination rate gap. The governor said that in the past three weeks, vaccine equity has begun to catch up.
“We are getting better but we still have work to do throughout,” Wolf said.
The health department reported 5,058 new coronavirus cases Wednesday. New cases have generally ranged around 4,000-5,000 per day over the past few weeks.
The health department reported 111 new coronavirus deaths Wednesday, raising the statewide total to 29,722. Health officials have been reporting more deaths and hospitalizations in recent weeks, largely due to the delta variant.
Statewide, 2,891 COVID-19 patients are being treated in hospitals, an increase of 9 over the previous day, according to the health department.
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It’s free and they still can not afford it. Maybe pay them $10,000 a month for six months after every injection. Ya, that’s the ticket. I should be in politics.
Must be some kind of democrat crime prevention scheme
Gotta scare/coerce/threaten/ridicule/insult more people.
“We gotta get them darkies under control.” Is that what wolf is trying to say?
“We gotta get them darkies under control.” Is that what wolf is trying to say?
"I call it, 'Operation Get Behind the Darkies!'"
Just mark them all down as vaxxed. The next act of cooperation between our angry brothers in the hood and government on any level will be their first.
Did millie shave his head?
Hmmmm. Double tap.
Governor Wolf…aptly named
Yes, fascism is such hard work.
“When people are able to make choices without government interference for themselves in terms of their well being and the well-being of their family in consultation with whomever they may choose, we are a stronger society.”
- U.S. Vice-President Kamala Harris
Excuse me, Governor, but what, exactly, are these shots supposed to accomplish?
(Waiting for an informed, cogent answer while the “Jeopardy theme plays)
He makes the case very clearly that the mRNA vaccines are much more dangerous and unsafe than the actual Covid-19 disease.
This is a very powerful hour long video, well worth your time to view.
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