LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Black community leaders in Louisville are encouraging everyone who can to get the COVID-19 vaccine.
At the Louisville Urban League Wednesday morning, Louisville's health department vaccinated several Black community leaders in hopes of communicating the message that the vaccine is safe and effective.
"We have ministers here, we have grandmas here," said Sadiqa Reynolds, president and CEO of the Louisville Urban League. "The Black community is represented and I wanted people to understand that all of us are saying we trust this enough to move forward and we think -- I mean, we are not medical professionals, but we are trusting the medical professionals."
West Louisville community members as well as a pastor and Reynolds were vaccinated as a show of support for the shot.
Dr. Sarah Moyer, Louisville's public health director, was on-hand to watch the vaccinations. She says data shows about 70% of white healthcare workers have been reached with vaccinations compared to about 30% of Black healthcare workers.
Moyer says she hopes Wednesday's vaccinations help change healthcare workers' minds and also encourage Black community members to sign up for the shot. The people who were vaccinated today say they want to be an example for their community.
Right now, the health department says Louisville has a waitlist for Tier 1B of more than 50,000 people, but you can still be added to the list.
The Louisville Urban League says it's working on ways to help those in Tier 1B who don't drive get to a site to get vaccinated.
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