TOLEDO, Ohio — There are efforts in the Old South End to fully vaccinate more minorities after a growing amount of Latinos and Blacks decided to get the shot.
The Farm Labor Organizing Committee is partnering with others to step up to the plate to meet those demands.
Turn out has been so great that FLOC President Baldemar Velasquez says they've had to find a bigger location.
"It was a bit of challenge up to now in getting the vaccines. We had to take the leftovers from the other providers. And make sure we target them, bring those vaccines into the city, take the vaccine to the people, instead of waiting for the people to come to some site," said Velasquez.
It's now happening across the street in the gym inside Escuela SMART Academy on Western Avenue.
But it wasn't only a location issue. They needed more vaccines and the Toledo-Lucas County Health Department made a change.
"COVID has disproportionally affected Latino and the Black populations. All the data proves that, in terms of economic impact, In terms of hospitalizations, In terms of death, In terms of loss of jobs. In terms of loss of income," said Dr. Richard Paat, a Clinical Professor of Internal Medicine at the University of Toledo.
"I'm glad the county has made the step to set aside 20 percent of vaccines for people of color. So that was a huge step forward for all of us," added Velasquez.
The vaccination clinic started back in January when the Farm Labor Organizing Committee offices began offering them to people who have qualified per Gov. Mike DeWine's orders.
"When we knew the vaccine was gonna become available, we knew that people of color were gonna be on the margins because they're the ones that have the least access to healthcare and particularly people in the inner city," said Velasquez.
"We're not a huge mega-site where we can vaccinate 2-or-3,000 at a time. But we keep picking away, picking away, serving the population that needs to be served. Going to the communities, and that's how we make our impact," added Paat.
The clinics are completely free to those who stop by.
Velasquez and Paat say all of the medical volunteers are looking to make a change by continuing the clinics for our communities of color as long as possible.
The clinics are held at Escuela SMART Academy from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Friday nights.
You can make an appointment if you qualify for a vaccine by calling the FLOC offices at 419-243-3456 or by emailing flocoh@floc.com.
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