As the vaccinated population in Kern County increases, the United Against COVID-19 (UAC) Coalition continues to provide communities with additional access to the COVID-19 vaccine by hosting free vaccination clinics.
The UAC Coalition received funding from the Public Health Institute’s Together Towards Health Initiative to implement door to door canvassing and outreach and education to Kern County communities most impacted by COVID-19. The UAC Coalition is educating vulnerable populations, distributing PPE, and providing a range of other services in a variety of languages with cultural respect.
The UAC Coalition has four upcoming vaccination clinics throughout Kern County and is encouraging community members to attend and get vaccinated. The clinics are free to the public and available to anyone ages 12 and up.
Ucedrah Osby, President of the Bakersfield Chapter of All of us Or None (AOUON) and a UAC Coalition member, decided to begin hosting clinics outside of the AOUON office building when she realized that vaccine clinics weren’t being offered in Old Town Kern.
“We have a lot of health disparities in our communities and it doesn’t give us a fair chance to beat the virus when we choose not to become vaccinated,” Osby stated during an interview. “The goal was to make the vaccine accessible to our community. We just really want to increase vaccine equity.”
Vaccine equity has been a persistent goal among the UAC Coalition as many locations were chosen with the hopes of reaching more rural and indigenous communities and agricultural workers.
According to the University of California, Merced’s COVID-19 fact sheet, The Pandemic’s Toll, agricultural workers experienced among the highest rates (47 percent) of pandemic-related deaths among workers.
Additionally, The Pandemic’s Toll drew data from US Census Bureau Household Pulse Survey — which samples about 75,000 persons/households every two weeks —and found that ten months into the vaccine era, agricultural workers have by far the lowest rates of vaccination of any industry group.
The UAC Coalition continues to urge the unvaccinated public to take the leap and receive their vaccine in order to help Kern County battle the COVID-19 pandemic.
Vaccination clinics will be held throughout Kern County on the following dates:
- October 22 — 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the All of Us or None office
- 948 Baker St, Bakersfield, CA, 93305
- October 23 — 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. at The Old Court House
- 810 8th St, Wasco, CA, 93280
- October 24 — 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the Veterans Hall
- 414 4th Ave, Arvin, CA, 93203
- October 29 — 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. at El Mercado Latino
- 1999 Edison Hwy, Unit #1, Bakersfield, CA, 93305
No appointment is needed to attend any of the upcoming clinics and each clinic will be providing free food boxes thanks to Community Action Partnership of Kern. Masks and sanitizers will also be provided until supplies are exhausted.
Organizations in the UAC Coalition include All of Us or None, Building Healthy Communities Kern, Dolores Huerta Foundation, Kern Sol News, Jakara Movement, Lideres Campesinas, Unidad Popular Benito Juarez, and Vision Y Compromiso.