Local

BLM Dayton hold first-ever ‘Shot for Life’ vaccination campaign

DAYTON — Social justice activists in Dayton have started a new vaccine awareness project.

BLM Dayton held their first-ever Shot for Life vaccination campaign at McIntosh Park.

Doctor Anthony Watson the Director of Ace Health products said he and his team got at least ten unvaccinated people to get their shots Sunday. This is a long-term campaign by BLM Dayton to improve vaccination rates in Dayton’s black communities.

Carols Buford the founder of Black Lives Matter Dayton, said he launched the campaign two weeks ago to fight vaccine hesitancy and protect the people in his community.

“The main thing is to make sure that everyone is doing their part and making sure they are vaccinated or tested,” Buford told News Center 7.

“We have an initiative to educate people about the importance of getting the covid vaccine related to hesitancy and we are here to dispel some of that hesitancy with education,” said Dr. Watson.

The organizers of “What’s Going on Dayton Ohio” say they invited Doctor Watson and BLM Dayton to be a part of their larger community event Sunday, the organization’s seventh annual back-to-school block party.

Daryl Dalton, CEO of “What’s Going on Dayton Ohio” said, “They do a lot so I feel it was best for me to invite them because they can do more to get the word out than I can get the word out.”

According to Public Health in Dayton and Montgomery County, 38% of the black community in Montgomery County is fully vaccinated. That’s compared to 48% of their white counterparts in the county

Neci Hines told WHIO about how the Shot for Life campaign may have changed her mind about the vaccine.

“I am wising up and I am seeing I was nervous about the way things might happen with the vaccination and the after-effects but after learning today I might just go ahead and get the vaccination,” said Hines.

These are the hearts and minds that Carlos Buford and his team say they’re trying to change.

They hope to keep using big community gatherings like this to do so.

Carlos Buford said, “If we can get to the place where it is a collective effort that we make sure that do what we need to do as a collective as a country we can get past the misinformation and the distrust that we have.”




0
Comments on this article