Mobile vaccination units headed to underserved metro communities

DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — Mobile COVID-19 vaccination units will be going around to some metro Atlanta communities to help those in the critical population.

In DeKalb County, there is a new partnership with DeKalb County Fire Rescue, DeKalb County Human Services and DeKalb County Board of Health to vaccinate homebound seniors and people with disabilities.

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Paramedics will be traveling to senior homes and administering the COVID-19 vaccine.

DeKalb County CEO Michael Thurmond said in a news conference that anyone who qualifies for the vaccine and wants to get one will be able to.

“It speaks to the compassion of DeKalb County,” Thurmond said.

In Fulton County, CORE, a community group founded by actor Sean Penn, is partnering with Fulton County to begin a mobile vaccination program.

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Penn co-founded CORE, or Community Organized Relief Effort, more than a decade ago in response to the earthquake in Haiti.

The program begins Tuesday and will run through Saturday. Officials are going to underserved communities to administer vaccines.

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They set up a location in a parking lot off Morgan Falls Road Tuesday morning. They have paramedics and firefighters from Sandy Springs giving out shots.

Crews will do a couple hundred doses at the location Tuesday, ramping up to 350 a day as seven full teams spread out across the area from north to south Fulton trying to get into underserved communities that may be reluctant, or just unable to get to some of the other vaccination locations.

“There’s certain groups and pockets within Fulton County that very much want the vaccine, they just don’t have access to get it. maybe don’t have a car, MARTA pass, maybe no bus stations that go that way, so we actually go to them since can’t make a fixed site. So for this, we’re bringing in our bilingual team to area where lot of Latin American housing complexes and communities… quick drive, taxi ride or walk away to vaccinate them,” said Jonathan Golden, CORE Georgia Area Manager.

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Teams will be at church in East Point later this week. They’ll have vans going out into the community and bringing people to the site.

CORE will also have three “micro-teams” going out and possibly setting up right inside an apartment complex.

CORE was in metro Atlanta last year giving out free COVID-19 tests.

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