Local officials in Birmingham and Jefferson County are stepping up their efforts to get shots at residents without access to transportation or the Internet by offering discounted rides and unscheduled shots at AH Parker High School.
The parker vaccination site today offers shots to about 115 local educators, said Dr Sarah Nafziger, vice president of clinical support services at the University of Alabama in Birmingham. By next week, it will have to increase to full capacity to host several hundred recordings per day through scheduled drive-through appointments. A limited number of unscheduled shots will also be offered to residents of the community around Parker High School, who fall into the fitness category, which includes people 65 and older and some essential workers.
The Parker High School website is the third large-scale vaccination center to open in the Birmingham area, joining Hoover Met and UAB Highlands, which already distribute vaccines. All three are managed by UAB.
“Equity is at the heart of UAB’s strategy to put this pandemic behind us,” Nafziger said. “UAB takes our responsibility to break down barriers that cause health disparities, so that we all strive to give inferior individuals the chance to be vaccinated.”
Nafziger said UAB will work with local community leaders to identify individuals who may not have been transported. She said they hope to offer more shots to underserved communities in the coming weeks.
Jefferson County Commissioner Sheila Tyson has announced a program to offer discount rides for people who need the vaccine. The province is offering special gift cards for Uber and Lyft rides to vaccination sites, and public buses and transportation services for the disabled will also offer additional routes.
“We need to make sure the shots in the arm go to anyone who wants to get one,” Tyson said.
The province plans to plan additional vaccination sites in other cities, including Bessemer. In addition, community leaders will reach out to disseminate information from house to house on how and where access to vaccinations is.
“To ensure everyone has fair access to these vaccines,” Tyson said.
The site at Parker High School collaborated through a partnership with the City of Birmingham City Schools.
“Access to this vaccine is extremely important,” said Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin. ‘But also taking the vaccines. I want our citizens in Birmingham to know that many people in the community, people we trust, leaders in the community have already taken the vaccine. And I want you all to get to a point where you are comfortable with the vaccine. ‘