ORANGEBURG COUNTY, SC (WIS) – Nearly 20 percent of Southern Carolinians have started the vaccination process against COVID-19, according to the Department of Health and Environmental Control. But for some, even if they are eligible for a vaccination appointment, there are many barriers that prevent them from receiving the vaccine.
Family Health Centers have hosted vaccination clinics to help people get vaccinated without consultation, needing to access the Internet or leaving the areas with which they are most familiar.
“I’m not aware of the computer because I don’t know much about them,” said Robert Golson, who received his first injection of the COVID-19 vaccine at the Family Health Centers in Orangeburg pop-up vaccination event. “[Rather than] go through all these injuries. I just prefer to come here and do it, ”added Golson.
Golson said that in addition to not having regular access to a computer, he knew he needed to get the vaccine to convince his wife that it is safe.
“It means everything between life and death. I consider this a life-or-death situation, ”he said.
Constance Sellers was another of more than 750 people who had their first injection on Thursday, she said overcoming the vaccine’s hesitation was a challenge for her in the beginning.
“One of the fears is the unknown, not knowing what’s in it, the ingredients, that the vaccine was made, you know,” said Sellers.
However, she said that seeing community leaders and government officials receiving the vaccine helped convince her to do so.
Before 2020, Sellers said he wouldn’t even get the flu shot.
“I prayed a lot to say that,” she said. “Seeing all the lives that were lost with COVID-19 and listening to all the people who fought and are still struggling with it, that’s why it’s a big deal for me too, because I don’t know if I want to be one of those statistics. “
She said that after receiving her first dose of Moderna vaccine, she is anxious to get back to work.
“So that I can see my babies … I am a special education director and I love my babies and that is one of the things,” she said.
But the hesitation of the vaccine is not a reality just for an age group or a demographic group. Students at Claflin University said they received their vaccines to set an example for other students who are seeing many false reports and skepticism about the vaccine online.
“As it is new, this is the main thing, because COVID came and infected many of your loved ones … so that’s it … they don’t want this vaccine to come and have a negative impact on their lives,” said student Marquel Claflin sanders.
To help combat fears in his own community, Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-South Carolina, shared photos of himself taking his first photo.
Clyburn said he understands the fears that some in his district have around the vaccine and has spent a lot of time learning more about the Tuskegee Experiment, an event in history that has caused mistrust of vaccines among some members of the black community.
“I believe that it is necessary to overcome this pandemic and I think that we all have a responsibility to each other, to our children and grandchildren, to do whatever is necessary for their safety,” said Clyburn.
He is also trying to help his constituents gain better access to health care in the future by improving access to the Internet in rural areas of the state.
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On Thursday, Clyburn also introduced the “Accessible and Accessible Internet for All Act” at Congress, which he said would earmark $ 94 billion to help underserved communities connect to affordable, high-speed Internet access.
“This project was designed to build broadband across the country in four years,” he said. “We think it is imperative that we do what is in this legislation to ensure that health care can be provided more efficiently and effectively,” he added.
Clyburn said that this bill has bipartisan support and that he is not concerned with approving it in the United States House of Representatives and hopes that he can get 60 votes in the Senate.
Until the project is approved and Internet connectivity and digital knowledge improves across the state, people like Golson say they will continue to spread their positive vaccination experience among their family and friends.
“I was [hesitant] in the beginning, until I saw what he was doing with the virus, he’s handling it very well, ”he said.
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