July Fourth came and went and the United States failed to meet the White House's vaccination deadline. The goal was to have 70% of American adults partially vaccinated by Independence Day. On July 4, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recorded 67.1 percent of adults had at least one dose.On Tuesday, the Ohio Department of Health reports 50.1% of Hamilton County residents have started their COVID vaccination journey. Cincinnati Health Department reports more than 53% of its residents have at least one dose of the vaccine."It's very alarming," Cincinnati Health Department Nursing Director Virginia Scott said of local and national efforts falling short of the deadline. She cites her concern due to the ever-present rise in cases and the increased presence of the delta variant. On Friday, CHD cited one confirmed case of the delta variant within city limits.Scott said her team's strategy to increase vaccination rates lies in intentionality: bringing clinics into individual neighborhoods, potentially ditching the white coat for more causal clothes, being open to any and all questions and providing multilingual staff to interact with patients."Maybe we go with a panel," Scott said as she spoke of her mindset to connect with present and future vaccine patients. "Even if it's me, and I talked about it before, do I come in there with gym shoes on and jogger pants? I do. I change up some things and go on there, because we do know that if you come in there with the white coat on and things like that, people kind of stereotype you. You just come in and. 'Make me take this vaccine.' And we really don't want to do that. So my goal now is to go out here, but a couple of my nurses, and just talk to people."Scott grew personal in her conversation with WLWT about her desire to increase vaccinations among Black and brown communities. "As an African American woman, I'm really concerned about our community," Scott said. "Especially since we do have one Delta variant here, we do know is more deadly. We do know it's more contagious. If we're sitting still around roughly almost 80% of African Americans that have not taken this . We want to ensure that you're not going to be the hardest. Our families are not going to be the hardest ones hit with this just delta variant when it comes through. And if we continue to go this route from here to here. That's gonna be the hardest population here."Currently, CHD said it is focusing efforts in the Price Hill and Winton Hills areas where vaccinate rates are reported below 20%. CHD said its current age demographic where vaccinations are the lowest centers on those ages 20-29.Hamilton County Public Health Commissioner Greg Kesterman said his office continues to see rises in vaccination in all ages groups. With the missed deadline, HCPH said it's seeing a slower uptick in vaccine intake from lower-income and minorities communities throughout Hamilton County.Kesterman said the future strategy is to continue to work with existing and future partners to disperse vaccine supplies and focus on getting vaccines into primary care offices. "I think there is still some hesitancy on some folks to get the vaccine and I think many are waiting to talk to your primary care physicians and others that they trust before jumping in and getting vaccinated," Kesterman said. He called the need to get vaccines into PCP offices, "crucial for getting everyone vaccinated."To learn about current and future vaccination sites with CHD, click here. To learn about current and future vaccination sites with HCPH, click here.
July Fourth came and went and the United States failed to meet the White House's vaccination deadline. The goal was to have 70% of American adults partially vaccinated by Independence Day. On July 4, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recorded 67.1 percent of adults had at least one dose.
On Tuesday, the Ohio Department of Health reports 50.1% of Hamilton County residents have started their COVID vaccination journey. Cincinnati Health Department reports more than 53% of its residents have at least one dose of the vaccine.
"It's very alarming," Cincinnati Health Department Nursing Director Virginia Scott said of local and national efforts falling short of the deadline.
She cites her concern due to the ever-present rise in cases and the increased presence of the delta variant. On Friday, CHD cited one confirmed case of the delta variant within city limits.
Scott said her team's strategy to increase vaccination rates lies in intentionality: bringing clinics into individual neighborhoods, potentially ditching the white coat for more causal clothes, being open to any and all questions and providing multilingual staff to interact with patients.
"Maybe we go with a panel," Scott said as she spoke of her mindset to connect with present and future vaccine patients. "Even if it's me, and I talked about it before, do I come in there with gym shoes on and jogger pants? I do. I change up some things and go on there, because we do know that if you come in there with the white coat on and things like that, people kind of stereotype you. You just come in and. 'Make me take this vaccine.' And we really don't want to do that. So my goal now is to go out here, but a couple of my nurses, and just talk to people."
Scott grew personal in her conversation with WLWT about her desire to increase vaccinations among Black and brown communities.
"As an African American woman, I'm really concerned about our community," Scott said. "Especially since we do have one Delta variant here, we do know is more deadly. We do know it's more contagious. If we're sitting still around roughly almost 80% of African Americans that have not taken this [vaccine]. We want to ensure that you're not going to be the hardest. Our families are not going to be the hardest ones hit with this just delta variant when it comes through. And if we continue to go this route from here to here. That's gonna be the hardest population here."
Currently, CHD said it is focusing efforts in the Price Hill and Winton Hills areas where vaccinate rates are reported below 20%. CHD said its current age demographic where vaccinations are the lowest centers on those ages 20-29.
Hamilton County Public Health Commissioner Greg Kesterman said his office continues to see rises in vaccination in all ages groups. With the missed deadline, HCPH said it's seeing a slower uptick in vaccine intake from lower-income and minorities communities throughout Hamilton County.
Kesterman said the future strategy is to continue to work with existing and future partners to disperse vaccine supplies and focus on getting vaccines into primary care offices.
"I think there is still some hesitancy on some folks to get the vaccine and I think many are waiting to talk to your primary care physicians and others that they trust before jumping in and getting vaccinated," Kesterman said.
He called the need to get vaccines into PCP offices, "crucial for getting everyone vaccinated."
To learn about current and future vaccination sites with CHD, click here.
To learn about current and future vaccination sites with HCPH, click here.
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