COVID-19 vaccine clinic is a breath of fresh air for Muskegon Heights community – MLive.com

MUSKEGON HEIGHTS, MI The Muskegon Heights Academy High School is a special place for Gertha Burse.

Its where she and her children went to school, where her brothers won basketball trophies, where she worked for 21 years and where the 64-year-old got her first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.

Im blessed to be here, Burse said.

On Wednesday, 328 people received shots at a Muskegon Heights clinic thats a part of a community-driven, grassroots strategy to administer the COVID-19 vaccine.

Public Health Muskegon County partnered with community leaders, local pastors, the city of Muskegon Heights, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), and the school district to host the event.

Its really a face-to-face effort. Youre not a number here. Youre a person whos our neighbor, said Jerry McDowell, a Muskegon County deputy health officer, on Wednesday, March 3.

NAACP Muskegon branch president Eric Hood (left) and deputy health officer Jerry McDowell (right) coordinated and collaborated to put on a vaccination clinic at Muskegon Heights Academy High School on Wednesday, March 3, 2021. (Photo by Rose White | MLive)

For five hours, the lobby of the school bustled with people over the age of 60 showing up for appointments to get their first dose of the vaccine.

NAACP Muskegon Branch President Eric Hood said it was a breath of fresh air seeing the clinic in Muskegon Heights.

People want these shots in our community, and we have to make it available for them to get it, he said.

Black Americans are the largest ethnic group in Muskegon Heights. According to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Black, Hispanic and Native Americans are dying from COVID-19 at nearly three times the rate of whites.

The clinic was advertised through phone calls, radio shows, the church pulpit and word of mouth.

In Michigan, all residents over the age of 50 will be eligible to get the vaccine later this month. As eligibility opens to wider populations, church and community involvement becomes more important, according to Dr. Thomas Foster, chief medical officer for Mercy Health Physician Partners.

They can trigger things that maybe the healthcare system is not seeing, Foster said.

In Muskegon County, nearly 30,000 people have received their first dose of the vaccine and 16,149 are fully vaccinated. About 47,800 vaccines have been distributed to the county, according to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.

Michigan reported 1,536 new coronavirus cases and five new deaths on Wednesday. Since the start of the pandemic, the state has reported 591,753 confirmed cases and 15,563 deaths related to COVID-19.

Related: Michigan reports 1,536 new coronavirus cases, 5 new deaths on Wednesday, March 3

Kathy Moore, director of the Muskegon County Health Department, said the health department plans to allocate 25% of its doses for special outreach populations like clinics in Muskegon Heights and in rural areas of the county.

Related: Rural, isolated people getting left out of COVID vaccinations, Muskegon health director says

Latinos Working for the Future, a non-profit in Muskegon County, also partnered with health officials to translate information about the vaccine into Spanish and hold two clinics that vaccinated 200 people total.

Being steeped in the community is an asset for the vaccination efforts, said Angelita Valdez, president of Latinos Working for the Future. She said the partnership with the health department is a mutual effort to get our Black and brown folks vaccinated.

There are folks signing up for the vaccine that are feeling more comfortable that somebody they know or essentially trust is helping them to get them the vaccine, she said.

In Muskegon County, the bulk of the vaccines have been administered by Meijer, Mercy Health, and the health department. However, the county plans to continue holding community clinics.

We want to keep it going until every last person is vaccinated, said Hood.

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COVID-19 vaccine clinic is a breath of fresh air for Muskegon Heights community - MLive.com