PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — “Hello! Are you interested in getting vaccinated today?”
Greeters in the Love Lot, a parking lot at Clearfield and Ruth Streets near Kensington Avenue, are asking people about receiving either the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine or the two-dose Moderna shot on site.
The new twice-a-week offering is part of the Step Up to the Plate program at the Love Lot, where free meals are given in one of the poorest sections of Philadelphia.
There are no appointments, no identification and no insurance needed, and the shots are free.
Related
“It was easy. It was convenient," said Tiwiana Henderson. She rolled up her sleeve for the vaccine herself, but she has a loved one who is scared to receive the shot.
"I don’t know why people don’t do it...I don’t know why."
Professionals helped those with questions about the shots.
“Some people in the poorer neighborhoods, they've got a lot of misconceptions about it because they listen to other people instead of listening to professionals,“ said a woman who received the Johnson & Johnson shot.
Related
Non-profit public health and public services organization Prevention Point partnered with Temple University’s College of Public Health to offer the vaccinations. The City of Philadelphia gave an $810,000 grant to the college to help get people vaccinated in the city.
“We are standing in one of the poorest zip codes in Philadelphia. Definitely the epicenter of the city’s opioid crisis lives here in Kensington," said Jose Benitez, the Executive Director of Prevention Point Philadelphia.
"For us having a vaccination clinic, part of the struggle for us is going to be sort of meet people where they are. So we designed a vaccination clinic where you don’t need an appointment, you don’t need an ID, you can just walk up, get vaccinated and choose a vaccination you like. Or just talk to somebody about the possibility of being vaccinated, Finding out the information about the vaccinations.”
The clinics are being offered on Tuesdays and Thursdays for the next few weeks between noon and 3:30 p.m.