Orlando commissioner goes door to door to get vaccine information to residents

ORLANDO, Fla, — In Orange County, the latest vaccination data shows that Black residents make up only 7 percent of people vaccinated.

Orlando Commissioner Bakari Burns is determined to change that.

He and his staff went door to door in several neighborhoods of his district to get vaccine information to residents and at times even help them make appointments.

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For many residents like Ethel Hayes, it’s not that they don’t want the vaccine, it’s getting online and getting to appointments that is the problem.

“It seems like being black you’re having a hard time trying to find out and it looks like all the shots are way out,” she said.

Tuesday COVID-19 updates: Florida reports 220 more deaths, 6,200 new coronavirus cases

Burns says his office gets daily calls from people about where they can get the vaccine, a clear sign it’s not just vaccine hesitancy that is keeping people away.

“We cannot allow the term vaccine hesitancy to keep us from looking at these numbers and see that these vaccines are not getting the communities that are hardest hit,” he said.

READ: COVID-19 vaccine: Can you take Tylenol, Motrin before, after your vaccination?

While vaccination programs have expanded in recent weeks he says making them more accessible is also important.

That means expanding to locations more accessible to Black seniors like churches and community centers.

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