GREENFIELD — The farmworker community has been invited to a mass vaccination clinic in Greenfield, hosted by the city and partnership organizations on April 10 and 11 at Greenfield Memorial Hall.
The expansive parking area and large building will allow for people to walk in, get vaccinated, and sit in a waiting area before departing back home. The planned vaccine is the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine, meaning patients will not have to return a few weeks later.
Plans are for 500 doses to be administered per day, for a total of 1,000 doses over the weekend.
The city’s vaccination coordinator, Jovanna Acevedo, said she has been getting the word out in the community and getting eligible people a slot in the appointment schedule. The vaccines are targeted at farmworkers, but Acevedo said the clinic would not deny anyone who falls within eligibility requirements.
“Our focus is for ag workers, but the vaccination is open to everyone that qualifies,” said Jim Langborg, Greenfield’s fire chief, who also coordinated the site logistics for the city.
Some of the outreach by partnership organizations has included clearing up rumors about Covid-19 and the vaccines, which has led to mixed responses to vaccination efforts in the city.
“People are trying to get the vaccine and they constantly call us trying to get the vaccine, but there is resistance,” Acevedo said. “What people see in the media about the vaccine effectiveness” has caused some to be suspicious of the vaccine.
This is why she and other partnership groups have campaigned to spread more information to get more people on board with the idea of being immunized. There have also been motivation efforts, including prize giveaways for those vaccinated in Greenfield.
In her work as vaccination coordinator, Acevedo has focused on seniors due to their transportation issues. Having a large-scale vaccine clinic in town means seniors and other community members will be able to get their immunization in Greenfield without having to get transportation elsewhere.
Acevedo noted Rite Aid would begin administering vaccines in Greenfield on April 6, with appointments available soon. That increased availability will further efforts to immunize seniors.
“It’s just a lot more convenient for the seniors to get the vaccine locally rather than them traveling out,” Acevedo said.
Greenfield Fire Department has also worked toward the overall goal by training firefighters a month ago to be certified with the county to administer vaccinations.
“We let our local partners know we have people trained to administer the vaccine,” Langborg said.
Signups for appointments at this weekend’s vaccination clinic will be taken through this week. Appointments can be scheduled by calling Eva Garcia at 831-757-6700 or Adriana Santos at 831-235-9064.
“We’re highly invested in getting our community vaccinated so that we can get back to normal,” Langborg said. “We’re going to partner with anybody and everybody with any effort that comes our way to make sure that we give people every opportunity to get everybody vaccinated.”
