Milwaukee residents are going door-to-door in their neighborhoods to talk about the COVID-19 vaccine, give shots on the spot – Milwaukee Journal…

Marcus Austin used to run some of the same streets as a gang member he now walks going door-to-door to talk to residents in the 53206 ZIP code about the COVID-19 shot.

Sometimes it aint what you say to people. It is how you say it, but whats also important is who you use to say it, Austin said of a neighborhood whose demographics include people whove had contact with the criminal justice system.

I know the neighborhoods that I go in. I know what colors to wear. I know what colors not to wear. …You just have to relate to people.

Austin, who was released from prison last year, hopes residents in his old stomping ground who see him advocating for the vaccine will roll up their sleeves to get the shot. The 53206 ZIP code is among 15 that have high vulnerability to the coronavirus and low vaccination rates.

I bring credential to the vaccine because Ive been vaccinated, said Austin, who lost his best friend to COVID-19. Most people dont believe in the vaccine [and] the things that they believe is garbage, is hearsay. When you go in the hood you need people thats from the hood to communicate [that].

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Austin is part of a team of residents or community mobilizers who workwith nurses from Alverno College to go door to door offering on-the-spot vaccine shots. They also use the time to have personal conversations with residents about any concerns or misconceptions they have about the vaccine.

The door-to-door COVID-19 community mobilization vaccine program is a partnership betweenJump at the Sun Consultants, the MilwaukeeHealth Department, Milwaukee Fire Department andother community stakeholders.

The goal is to build vaccine confidence in Milwaukees most underserved communities.

Mayor Tom Barrett and Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, along withhealth and community officials, unveiled the door-to-door initiative during a press conference Wednesday on the corner of 15th and Atkinson, not far from where Austins grandmother lives.

Thecampaign marks the next phase in community-focused efforts to increase vaccination rates in vulnerable populations that may face barriers to getting the vaccine.

The initiative began June 21 and has already reached more than 1,400 households. So far, 137 people have been vaccinated in their homesin eight days with the help of the citys fire and public health departments.

Barrett applauded the in trenches work that the community mobilizers and healthcare workers are doing to get residents vaccinated. Efforts like these and others have paid off, he said.

Deaths and hospitalizations due to COVID-19 are down in the city, and the infection rate is down to 1.2%. But Barrett said vigilance is still needed against the Delta variant a strain of the coronavirus that seems to be more transmissible and result in more severe disease.

We do not want this community … to be devastated by that, he said.

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Community mobilizersgoing door to door meeting people where theyre at like in the yard cutting grass is key to getting the message out about the vaccines safety and efficacy, Barrett said.

We have to have individuals from our community who understand our community, who are trusted in our community to deliver the message as to why it is important to get a vaccine, he said.

Lorraine Lathen, of Jump at the Sun Consultants, a partnering organization on the campaign, agrees.Her organization has been intentional about hiring residents from the 15 targeted ZIP codes to be community mobilizers. Peopleare more open to conversations with people they know and see in the community, she said its about building trust.

"It is not a knock-and-drop literature," Lathen said. "It's really taking the time to have a conversation. You cant strong-arm people into getting vaccinated. You have to share the information in a way that they can relate to it and in a way that they can see a benefit beyond them as an individual, their family and the community.

While President Joe Biden during a Tuesday briefing on the coronavirus announced a more hyperlocal approach that includes door-to-door campaigns to get shots into citizens' arms, Lathen noted the work for the citys effort began back in February.

The president's shift in approach came after the country failed to meet his goal of having 70% of Americans vaccinated with at least one dose by July 4.

In Wisconsin, 50.5% of its residents have at least one dose while 47.7 are fully vaccinated.

We already had this in mind, she said. When we were looking at the undecideds, they werent going to the pop-up clinics. We werent able to get them out even to that. So even before the Biden administration, we had been planning this.

But "it took time" to bring all the different partners the city, the county, the health and fire departments together.

The next phase of this effort is to reach 12- to 17-year-olds as a new school year approaches, Lathen said. Some parents who are vaccinated may be hesitant to let their children get the shot. Lathen wants to start a teen squad to canvass neighborhoods to educate both parents and their children about the vaccine.

Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley credited the district's early use ofdata to track COVID-19 by races and ethnicity in the early days of the pandemic with having a more targetedvaccine distribution strategy. With this data, he said, the county can be more responsive to the highest-need ZIP codes.

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We have to get people vaccinated, Crowley said. The more people we get vaccinated, the less cases of COVID-19 we will see throughout our community.

Doing door-to-door outreach is among many pivots the citys health department has made in its vaccination strategies, Health Commissioner Kirsten Johnson said. Initially, residents rolled up their sleeves at mass vaccination sites like the Wisconsin Center and then at mobile sites like churches. Now residents can receive the shot in the comfort of their own homes.

This initiative is in line with our strategy to really meet people where they are and to eliminate any and all barriers to access the vaccine, Johnson said.

Porsha Brown is among the health practitioners accompanying the community mobilizers onneighborhood canvasses. The campaign helps reach people in what the graduate nursing student at Alverno College calls the moveable middle: People who are on the fence about the vaccine, but with the right information to address their concerns can be moved towards getting the shot.

Some concerns are just misconceptions, Brown said. There are people who believe you are going to inject them with a live virus. There are people who just plain and simple dont trust the government. We talk through some of that stuff just by letting them know how important it is for them to be vaccinated and how it would reduce hospitalization.

The effort also makes the vaccine more accessible for people with hectic work schedules. Brown recalled a person saying he wouldnt have gotten the vaccine if she hadnt rung his doorbell.

Us coming out to his home was that opportunity that he was really appreciative of, Brown said.

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Milwaukee residents are going door-to-door in their neighborhoods to talk about the COVID-19 vaccine, give shots on the spot - Milwaukee Journal...