Florida A & M University will open a COVID-19 vaccine site as early as next week. It will have the capacity to give up to 200 vaccines a day to those who are eligible. In a statement, the university says the site is being opened to “combat growing vaccine hesitancy and skepticism among African Americans and other communities of color.”
“We want to reach out to the community, which has been disproportionately affected by COVID-19,” Tanya Tatum FAMU director of Student Health Services says. “Right now, we have many Black and Hispanic individuals who have not had the vaccine.”
Of the more than 2 million people vaccinated in Florida, only roughly 5% are Black. Meanwhile nearly 64% are white. Those numbers are striking because Black people are more likely to suffer adverse effects of COVID-19. The state has partnered with Black churches in an effort to get more vaccines into the arms of Black Floridians. FAMU President Larry Robinson says the FAMU site will help remedy problems such as a lack of accessibility to elderly people and vaccine hesitancy.
