Statewide task force sets clear goals

By St. Clair Murraine

Outlook staff writer

  A task force organized several weeks ago to encourage Blacks in Florida to get vaccinated against the coronavirus presented more clarity about how it intends to reach the community it’s targeting.

Most poignant in the 10-point plan of action that the group’s leader Rev. RB Holmes outlined is the goal of helping to get 60 to 70 percent of Florida’s African American community vaccinated. The coalition also plans to reach out to President Joe Biden’s administration to help attain its goal of 100 million vaccinations in Biden’s first 100 days.

The Statewide Coronavirus Vaccination Community Education and Engagement Task Force also wants to establish 40 vaccination sites in each of four regions. It set Jan. 31 as the date it would like to have vaccination sites identified in the northwest, northeast, southwest and southeast parts of the state.

Some of the venue being targeted as possible sites to be used for vaccinations would include churches, community centers and at HBCUs campuses, said Elaine Bryant, director of the task force.

Ten sub-committees, made up of community leaders, educators, religious and business leaders, were also announced during the meeting on Zoom last Wednesday.

The group’s approach is a “comprehensive plan of action to combat the coronavirus pandemic,” said Holmes, pastor at Bethel Missionary Baptist Church. He called it a SMART plan, spelling out the meaning of each letter: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Timely.

The Florida Department of Health announced last Saturday that 849,317 individuals have been vaccinated statewide. The update came a week after Gov. Ron DeSantis announced several sites where vaccine distribution will be available, including faith-based locations throughout the state.

However, there is growing concern that Florida and other states might not be able to keep up with the demand for vaccinations. 

Jared Moskowitz, director of the state’s Division of Emergency Management told a House panel last Thursday that most of the blame for slow distribution of the vaccine should be place on the federal government. He stated his observation to the House Pandemics & Public Emergencies Committee.

As more vaccine become available, the task force announced that it plans to work with hospitals, pharmaceutical firms, medical insurers, the philanthropic community and others to encourage people of color to get vaccinated. That includes individuals who live in group homes and to those who are incarcerated. 

As the plan is laid out, it will “educate, motivate and engage people of color to save lives,” said former Jacksonville mayor Alvin Brown, a member of the task force.

“When the vaccine is available, we want to ensure that our community trust the science, believe in the doctors and get the vaccine to end this tragedy with the vicious virus killing so many people in our state; in our country,” Brown said. “The key is we have to work together.”

Part of its effort to reach the African American community will include partnerships with health agencies, including the Florida Hospital Association.

Mary Mayhew, CEO of the FHA, said she is glad to be working with the task force because of “the importance of instilling confidence in this vaccine.”

“We know that individuals of color have been disproportionately affected by this deadly virus,” Mayhew added. “It’s critically important that as we deploy this vaccine that we are working community by community to partner affectively.”

Holmes also said that the group plans to call on DeSantis to develop neighborhood health clinics in disadvantaged communities in 25 designated cities in the four regions that the task force identified.

“We are committed to this vision,” Holmes said in a statement before the task force meeting. “We must rise up in a unified effort to save lives from this deadly virus. We must make sure that the vaccines are available and accessible to underserved communities that have been ignored for too many years.”