JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Two Jacksonville Transportation Authority buses pulled up behind one of the Jacksonville Housing Authority's senior communities, Centennial Towers on Friday. The buses weren't there to drop anyone off or pick anyone up, though.
The buses are part of a mobile vaccine clinic called Wellness on Wheels. One bus is for the shots, and the other is for observation afterward. It's part of a community outreach program that's a partnership between Agape Family Health Care, JTA and the state. The goal is to bring the vaccine to those who can't make it to vaccine sites.
"It's convenient," Robert Merritt, who lives in Centennial Towers and got the shot Friday, said. "It saves me from having to ride way out on the bicycle," he said.
Without the mobile vaccine clinic, Merritt said he'd ride his bike about three miles to the closest vaccine clinic.
"It’s a wonderful thing because being disabled, handicapped, physically ... whatever they call us, it’s best that they come here to us, the handicapped people because sometimes we can’t get around," Barbara Jackson, a dialysis patient who lives in the Towers said.
Jackson and dozens of other seniors got their shots Friday. The doses for the Wellness on Wheels program come from the Edward Waters College site's 500 per day allotment. The site hasn't come close to hitting that number in the month it has been open.
This week alone the numbers have been on a downward trend. Monday, 96 doses were administered. Tuesday, 77 doses were administered. Wednesday 78 doses were administered. Thursday 44 doses were administered.
The EWC site is a partnership with the state. Mia Jones, CEO of Agape Family Health, said the low numbers are part of the reason they launched the outreach.
“It became really important to us to get this moving as quickly as possible because we had been talking about this for a while, and we knew that at some point we needed to find a way to get closer to the community," Jones said.
She said as the program grows, they'll have to get a separate allotment of the vaccine to use. The buses also traveled to JHA's Hogan Creek Towers Friday to vaccinate seniors.
In the next few weeks, the buses will travel to churches, businesses and schools so people can have easier access to the shot, Jones said. The schedule isn't finalized yet. If you want to sign up to have the vaccine brought to a homebound senior, or brought somewhere in the community, you can visit Agape's website, or call 904-993-1886.
When the criteria regarding who can get a shot is expanded, she said they'll head to grocery stores, hair salons and other businesses with frontline workers to vaccinate employees.
Agape Family Health came to Centennial Towers a few months ago as well to do COVID testing.