DeKalb To Use $9M Grant To Increase COVID-19 Vaccine Access

DEKALB COUNTY, GA — A new $9 million federal grant will be used to increase COVID-19 vaccine access to underserved and apprehensive communities in DeKalb County, commissioners said Tuesday.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency grant will provide funding for the following efforts to expand vaccine access:

• operation of 10 mobile medical units, which were purchased last year;
• open two new fixed vaccination sites in areas "disproportionately affected" by the pandemic, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution;
• and improve outreach efforts with communities that are hesitant to get vaccinated, as well as immigrant and non-English-speaking communities.

While 42 percent of white DeKalb County residents have received at least one dose of the vaccine, roughly 24 percent and 21 percent of the county's Black and Latinx populations, respectively, have had at least one dose, Interim District Health Director Sandra Valenciano said Tuesday.

For contrast, about 36 percent of eligible residents in the county have had at least one dose, Valenciano said.

“There is not one segment but many segments in the Black community that have not taken this shot, are hesitant in taking this shot,” Commissioner Mereda Davis Johnson said. “We need to see why and try to reach all of those people.”

More details and specifics on the grant and implementation of its funding will be released at a future date.

Read more on the AJC's website here.