More than 400 vaccines given at community-based clinic
Momentum for the first community-based clinic began to build after Yorktown’s minister, the Rev. Christopher Williams, connected with Natalie Fox, DNP, an assistant administrator and chief nursing officer for USA Health Physicians Group who is leading COVID-19 testing and vaccines efforts.
About six years ago, Mobile resident Daniel McVay Jr. received a kidney transplant. Last Thursday, he received his first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine during a community-based clinic at Yorktown Missionary Baptist Church.
“I have a lot to live for,” said McVay, holding up his phone to reveal a photo of his 16-year-old granddaughter. “She just got her driver’s license. I don’t want to take any chances.”
McVay was one of more than 400 residents who received injections of the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine from USA Health staff members during a drive-through clinic at the church as part of a community-based partnership with area leaders, USA Health and the City of Mobile.
After USA Health began giving vaccinations at a drive-through site at the Mobile Civic Center in January, a group of local pastors met with USA Health staff about bringing similar clinics to areas where residents may be at a higher-risk for complications from the virus and less likely to get vaccinated. So far, more than 23,000 vaccines have been administered by USA Health since the vaccine first became available on Dec. 15, 2020.
Momentum for the first community-based clinic began to build after Yorktown’s minister, the Rev. Christopher Williams, connected with Natalie Fox, DNP, an assistant administrator and chief nursing officer for USA Health Physicians Group who is leading COVID-19 testing and vaccines efforts.
USA Health would love to learn from this event and do more community-based clinics as more vaccine is made available to us from the Alabama Department of Public Health, Fox said.
