Coronavirus Update NYC: Volunteers going door to door to encourage holdouts to get their vaccine
Coronavirus update for NYC
CANARSIE, Brooklyn (WABC) -- There is a new push by NYC to vaccinate the unvaccinated as canvass teams hit the streets.
Vax-4-All teams are going door to door in under-vaccinated communities to encourage holdouts to get their shots.
On Wednesday night, the volunteers in Brooklyn hoped that with each door knock they could help turn the tide on vaccination rates.
In Canarsie, only 37% of residents are fully vaccinated.
"There are a lot of people who are disproportionately affected by COVID-19 that do need help getting vaccines," said Thalia Buxo with Vax 4 All.
Vax 4 All is a program by New York City Health and Hospitals Test & Trace Corps.
"We have a way of setting up appointments with them," one volunteer said.
The initiative started in late May, and now that the city is offering $100 to those who get vaccinated, the canvassers hope people who were holding out will give in.
Solyn Jean Baptiste is now one step closer to getting the vaccine after putting it off for weeks.
"I thought I was immune to it that's why I didn't take the vaccine," Baptiste said.
And down the street, Juanita Lawrence signed her 80-year-old mother up.
"I was calling up to get an appointment but we weren't getting through so this was nice," Lawrence said.
Not everyone was letting the money sway them. Some said it seemed like a bribe and they were still unsure.
But volunteers say every appointment they get is a success and representation matters.
"The fact that a lot of the canvassers are people of color and we are in a neighborhood that is of color, a neighborhood that has been hurt and is disenfranchised, it definitely makes a difference," Buxo said.
But with the delta variant surging, residents and volunteers hope programs like this one will help.
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