Local authorities in Birmingham and Jefferson County are stepping up efforts to send photos to residents without access to transportation or the internet, offering discounted tickets and unscheduled photos at AH Parker High School.
Parker’s vaccination site offered injections to about 115 local educators today, said Dr. Sarah Nafziger, vice president of clinical support services at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Next week, he is expected to reach his full capacity to offer several hundred photos a day through scheduled drive-through visits. A limited number of unscheduled photos will also be offered to residents of the community around Parker High School who fall into the eligibility category, which includes people aged 65 and over and some essential workers.
The Parker High School site is the third large-scale vaccination site to open in the Birmingham area, joining Hoover Met and UAB Highlands, which already distribute vaccines. All three are operated by UAB.
“Equity is central to UAB’s strategy to put this pandemic behind,” said Nafziger. “UAB takes our responsibility to break the barriers that cause health disparities very seriously, so that we all work to give the needy individuals the ability to get vaccinated.”
Nafziger said UAB would work with local community leaders to help identify individuals who may not have transportation. She said they hope to offer more injections to underserved communities in the coming weeks.
Jefferson County Commissioner Sheila Tyson announced a program to offer discounted travel to people who need the vaccine. The county will offer special gift cards for Uber and Lyft trips to vaccination sites, and public buses and transportation services for people with disabilities will also offer additional routes.
“We need to make sure the shots in the arm go to everyone who wants to,” said Tyson.
The county is planning additional vaccination sites in other cities, including Bessemer, she said. In addition, community leaders will conduct outreach activities to distribute door-to-door information on how and where to access vaccines.
“To ensure that everyone has fair access to these vaccines,” said Tyson.
Parker High School’s website was created through a partnership with Birmingham and Birmingham City Schools.
“Access to this vaccine is extremely important,” said Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin. “But also, getting vaccines too. I want our citizens in Birmingham to know that many people in the community, people we trust, leaders in the community have already had the vaccine. And I want everyone to reach a point where they feel comfortable taking the vaccine ”.