The city of Aurora plans to create a “pop-up” coronavirus vaccination site at the former Carson Pirie Scott store inside of the Fox Valley Mall, and the first event at the new store will be a large-scale vaccination clinic targeting individuals in the Black, Latinx and Indian communities in the city.
According to a press release, a 1,000-shot clinic will be hosted at the site on Thursday. The Unity Vax Aurora program will conduct the first event in partnership with Black Vax Aurora, Latin Vax Aurora and Indian Vax Aurora, a series of outreach efforts designed to get the COVID vaccine into the arms of individuals from communities where “vaccine hesitancy” is still an issue, according to the release.
Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin will receive his first dose of the Moderna vaccine on Thursday.
“We are serious about the business of vaccinations in our community, and will continue to take measures into our own hands to do so,” Irvin said in a statement. “As we see COVID positivity rates on the incline once again, we have to double-down and do what is necessary to make sure people in our community are vaccinated, with a concerted effort (to target) our own most impacted populations.”
The Black Vax Aurora and Latin Vax Aurora programs both launched earlier in March to “ensure vaccine equity and lessen vaccine hesitancy” in their communities, according to the release. Indian Vax Aurora is launching to do the same for the city’s Indian-American community, and will aim to host its own vaccination clinic in April, according to officials.
Officials say 1,000 residents will receive their first doses of the vaccine at the site on Thursday. After Thursday’s event, the site will be able to be used for other “pop-up” events in the near future, with the city aiming to get as many residents vaccinated as possible.
Information on each of the outreach groups participating in Thursday’s event can be found by clicking on their respective hyperlinks in this story, and Aurora is also operating its own coronavirus information website.
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