To her astonishment, Dr. Aviance Lewis didn’t see anyone who looked like her during a February in-store vaccine clinic.
About 60 people stood in line for the COVID-19 vaccine at a pharmacy on Lafayette Boulevard in Norfolk, she said, all of them white. Lewis helped administer almost 225 doses that day — only about 15 Black people attended.
“I then took it personally to make sure that the Black and brown community was taken care of,” she said.
Since April, Lewis has vaccinated people as the lead pharmacist for Hampton University’s mobile vaccine clinic. The half-million-dollar custom RV administers Pfizer’s vaccine in rural and underserved communities.
University officials foresaw the barriers marginalized groups could face once the vaccine rollout began, said Michelle Penn-Marshall, the clinic’s director and Hampton’s associate provost. The university decided to create a mobile clinic when school president William Harvey began conversations about the initiative last June.
Of all the challenges, vaccine hesitancy is one Lewis faces the most with the Mobile Health Unit. Sometimes, she said, giving a shot is the easiest part.
While other large-scale vaccination sites report hundreds of doses distributed in one day, Lewis might inoculate eight people. The clinic has administered about 2,600 doses since it started three months ago.
How many doses the clinic administers each day depends on the location. Lewis vaccinated 173 people when the university partnered with the Hispanic Resource Center last week in Norfolk. However, last Friday, she only administered six doses at a church in Chesapeake.
Health experts believe misinformation on the internet and social media add to vaccine hesitancy in the Black community. Lewis said she spends most of her time dispelling myths — some may want to examine the vaccine’s box to make sure it’s Pfizer, others ask her to administer the shot more slowly to ensure the needle comes out of their arm. Sometimes she needs up to 40 minutes to vaccinate one person.
“My clinics entail a lot of pampering time,” Lewis said. “I don’t know these people, but their life matters to me.”
Lewis said she doesn’t mind taking the time because she understands their concern. She noted there have been times when communities of color were abused in medical practices. She wanted to bridge the gap between marginalized groups and medicine.
Her community-based approach as the clinic’s engagement coordinator keeps her referrals coming in — and her calendar full.
Clinics are mostly scheduled by outreach or word of mouth. Local organizations, business owners, school officials, church leaders and state agencies coordinate with Lewis to see if she has any openings, or they spread the word depending on the clinic’s location.
The Mobile Health Unit went on, what Penn-Marshall called, a “restaurant tour” while it partnered with the Hispanic Resource Center on Monday and Tuesday evenings from April through June.
Since some Hispanic people work longer hours, Lewis said, they miss in-store vaccinations which typically end about 7 p.m. She noticed three people wore shirts from a local restaurant during one clinic. Lewis called the business once she finished because she had extra doses, which led to at least three more restaurants insisting the clinic vaccinate their workers.
Over the past three months, the clinic set up shop in more than 75 locations.
“I wanted to make sure that there’s someone who looks like those who have questions,” Lewis said. “If I can reach one person, they can reach the people that are connected to them.”
She stressed the importance of consuming accurate information from reliable sources. While the science behind the virus and vaccine still unfolds, she encourages people to make an informed decision, even if they side against getting vaccinated.
“COVID is absolutely real. It isn’t any conspiracy theory,” she said.
Although the decision to get vaccinated against the coronavirus is a personal one, Lewis said, she hopes people will choose to protect themselves and others who may be more susceptible to COVID-19.
Sierra Jenkins, 229-462-8896, sierra.jenkins@virginiamedia.com
