How Our Partners Are Vaccinating LA
March 9, 2021
The Covid-19 vaccination effort has relied heavily on nonprofit organizations in Los Angeles. From sharing information to administering vaccines, our grantees (including our Rapid Response grantees) have stepped up as vital partners in the race to vaccinate vulnerable populations.
These organizations are trusted members of their communities, and places individuals go for reliable information. This has been particularly important for groups who primarily speak languages other than English. Koreatown Youth and Community Center (KYCC), Little Tokyo Service Center, and the Southeast Asian Community Alliance (SEACA) have all worked to share essential details about the vaccine’s safety and efficacy, secure appointments, and combat disinformation.
The Motion Picture and Television Fund (MPTF) has also leveraged their position as a trusted voice in the entertainment industry. In addition to holding webinars and sharing information with staff, residents, and their broader community, they have also provided over 1,500 vaccine doses to campus residents, staff, campus volunteers, and eligible members of the entertainment community since late December supported by MPTF clinical and administrative staff and vaccinated volunteers.
Other organizations like St. Barnabas Senior Services and the LGBTQ Center of Long Beach have particularly focused on securing appointments for older adults – a major challenge for those who don’t have internet access. The LGBTQ Center is helping older adults register on Long Beach’s Vax LB site to find appointments, and have been sending reminders and providing transportation to those who need it. For those who live alone, they are also checking in after appointments to monitor any side effects. St. Barnabas Senior Services created the SBSS COVID-19 Vaccine Information Resource Center, as part of their larger vaccine initiative, to ensure equitable access to vaccines and vaccine information for low-income older adults with limited English proficiency. In addition to partnering with local health centers and clinics to secure appointments, they are also providing transportation when needed.
Our partners in healthcare have also played a vital role. Clinics at the LA LGBT Center, Eisner Health, and Venice Family Clinic have been administering the vaccine to their patients while advocating for additional supply. For older adults who don’t have access to the internet or a car for a vaccination appointment at the drive-through hubs, community clinics are essential to reaching older adults equitably. As supply increases, these clinics will continue to be important partners in the vaccination effort.
Transportation has proved a particular challenge. Most large vaccination sites are drive-through, with few walk-up opportunities for those who don’t have a car. As SEACA worked to find solutions for older adults in Chinatown who had no way to make it to an appointment, they partnered with other local organizations to bring the City of Los Angeles’s mobile vaccination unit to them and vaccinated a total of 908 seniors over 4 days. The Mayor’s Office in partnership with the Mayor’s Fund for Los Angeles is facilitating several more mobile vaccination units across the city, and is also providing transportation resources to get people to larger sites.
Finally, organizations are leveraging connections in healthcare to vaccinate older adults at a familiar, trusted location. ONEgeneration has partnered with Providence Hospital to serve as a periodic vaccination site for older adults in the San Fernando Valley. LTSC and Wesley Health Centers also held a vaccine clinic in Little Tokyo at LTSC’s new Terasaki Budokan community facility and vaccinated 140 seniors. Others like the LGBTQ Center of Long Beach and St. Barnabas Senior Services are advocating to host pop-up clinics as well.
These organizations are bringing hope to the communities they serve, and will continue to be crucial partners as Los Angeles emerges from this crisis.