INDIANAPOLIS — A community on the northeast side of Indianapolis came together Saturday to get hundreds of neighbors vaccinated against COVID-19.
LaShawnda Bell, a certified medical assistant, said she lost count of how many vaccines she has put in Hoosier arms since the roll-out began.
"Oh, goodness gracious, I couldn't even tell you," Bell said. "There's just so many that come in and it's hundreds a day. It's hundreds a day."
And Saturday's pop-up vaccination clinic at Kipp Legacy High School in the Martindale-Brightwood neighborhood added to her total.
LeRoy Seats Jr. was one of around 350 people who got the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
"There's too many people dying for no reason. That's why I'm here," Seats Jr. said. "If you want to live, you better get this shot."
The Edna Martin Christian Center, Kipp Indy Public Schools and Community Health East came together to host the vaccine clinic.
"This is not something we're putting on them. This is something we're doing with them," said Angela Moore, vice president for programming at Edna Martin Christian Center. "We know we will not necessarily be over the pandemic in a month or two months. It's going to take some time, but we want our people to have as much protection as possible."
The goal of Saturday's event was to provide easy accessibility to the vaccine and to educate the community on the need to get vaccinated. Many living nearby are part of the essential workforce who work in retail and health care.
"We know that this community has a lot of health disparities. "It's plagued with one of the highest murder rates and drug addiction rates, so we want to make sure that we provide them with the opportunity," Moore said.
Andy Seibert, the executive director of Kipp Indy Public Schools said the high school was recently built with hosting events like the pop-up clinic in mind.
"We have a unique role to play to open our doors and to make something like the vaccine as accessible as possible in a trusted place," said Andy Seibert, executive director of Kipp Indy Public Schools.
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