PINEVILLE, La. (KALB) - Despite the COVID-19 vaccine being available at many locations across Louisiana, some areas still don’t have access to it.

Together Louisiana has been setting up neighborhood canvassers in cities across the state like Baton Rouge, Shreveport, Alexandria and New Orleans to bring more vaccines to low-income and low-vaccinated areas.

According to the Louisiana Department of Health, Region 6 in Central Louisiana is the second-lowest vaccinated region in the state, just above Region 5 at the bottom of the list. Just over 21 percent of Central Louisiana residents have received the vaccine.

To combat this effort, Together Louisiana has been going door to door, educating and signing up those wanting a shot.

Ben Nugent-Peterson is an organizer for Together Louisiana and said, “I think one thing we’ve learned a lot in the first and second round of doing this is that building trust and relationships is the most important part of doing work like this.”

Over the last week, Together Louisiana has partnered up with the Strong Neighborhood Group and United Way of Central Louisiana to reach those in the Wardville community in Pineville.

Michelle Purl, the CEO of United Way of Central Louisiana, said, “I think it comes back to meeting people where they are at and answering their questions. It’s important to have people that they know and trust and accompanying other people that are willing to educate them to keep that trust going.”

Check out more here!

https://www.kalb.com/2021/05/20/organizations-bringing-covid-19-vaccines-to-low-vaccinated-areas/