By Tim Mastro

DOVER — More COVID-19 vaccination events are coming to Dover’s Modern Maturity Center, as a coalition in Kent County has formed with the goal of reaching minority communities with the vaccine.

The MMC will host a first-dose clinic Sunday, with 320 individuals already signed up. This is through a partnership with Camden Pharmacy and the nursing programs at Delaware Technical Community College and Wesley College, who will be administering the vaccine.

Sunday’s event will kick off what will become weekly clinics through a partnership with Westside Family Healthcare to offer vaccines from 2-4:30 p.m. each Thursday.

“That will be to reach the underserved population,” said MMC director Carolyn Fredricks. “That will be an important thing because that is a group that we need to reach.”

The coalition has formed between First State Community Action, People’s Place, Bayhealth, NCALL Research, the United Way, the NAACP, the Delaware Division of Public Health, executive director of the Delaware Pharmacist Association Kim Robbins and several other community leaders and churches.

“Kent County now has a coalition established to make sure that Black and Brown communities receive the vaccine,” said Rev. Rita Paige. “We think this is a great opportunity to kick it off.”

“It’s important that we try to get as many Black and Brown people vaccinated as possible because this pandemic has had a major impact on the Black and Brown community,” Rev. Paige added. “The vaccines are free, it doesn’t cost anything and you don’t have to have insurance to get a shot. So if we want to reduce and eliminate this pandemic to save our neighbors’ lives, our families’ lives, and to reopen, this is the best way to attack this, by getting your vaccine.

Rev. Paige said smaller churches are being contacted to reserve a block at Modern Maturity for future Thursday clinics.

“That’s really ideal for small churches,” Rev. Paige said. “They might not have the capacity to do it on their own, so they can come to Modern Maturity.”

Rev. Paige has hosted Zoom calls in the last couple of months regarding the vaccine to help inform community members about why they should receive the vaccinations. Participants on these virtual meetings have included local Black doctors such as Dr. Joan Coker, an otolaryngologist at St. Francis, A.I. Dupont and Christiana Care, and Dr. Velma Scantlebury, the first female Black transplant surgeon in the country, as well as DPH nursing director Dr. Rebecca Walker and DPH community health director Dr. Lisa Henry.

These calls have helped quell vaccine hesitancy in the Black and Brown communities, Rev. Paige said.

“We had these Zoom calls in order to let them know about the vaccine, why they need to take it and what’s in it,” Rev. Paige said. “People have had the opportunities to ask questions about it.”