LOS ANGELES - Heal Together, a collaboration of USC, the Los Angeles Departments of Public Health and Health Services, the City of Los Angeles Civil + Human Rights and Equity Department (LA Civil Rights), Kedren Health, nonprofits, churches, social service agencies and community organizations is launching an outreach campaign to businesses and labor organizations to boost vaccination rates among frontline workers.
“In our fight for equitable vaccine distribution, we encourage employers not only to provide time off for employees to be vaccinated away from their worksites, but space at the worksite to be vaccinated,” said Kedren Vaccines Program Director, Dr. Jerry P. Abraham. “Our goal is to shift the narrative and provide culturally responsive care where people live, work, worship, play, and go to school. We cannot wait for people to come to us, we must go to them.”
“The best way to beat this pandemic is by getting more people vaccinated,” said LA Civil Rights Executive Director Capri Maddox. “But getting there requires equitable and easy access to the COVID-19 vaccines. As vaccine mandates expand, Heal Together is asking business and labor leaders to host on-site vaccine drives so the workers of Los Angeles can stay healthy, informed and gainfully employed.”
“We are grateful for the Heal Together collaboration to boost vaccinations in South Los Angeles. The COVID-19 pandemic has had a devastating impact on our communities and across the city. USC is proud to partner with labor leaders and local businesses to increase vaccinations among frontline workers,” said Senior Vice President of USC University Relations Sam Garrison.
The Heal Together Coalition will provide opportunities for businesses and labor organizations to host their own vaccine drive at any location in LA County through the LA County Department of Public Health’s Mobile Vaccine Clinic. Interested organizations can sign up to host an on-site COVID-19 vaccine drive by clicking here.
The Heal Together Coalition has also published an Employer Toolkit which includes information and resources. Click here to find the toolkit.
Throughout Los Angeles County, businesses in both the private and public sector are implementing vaccine mandates as they face low uptick in vaccinations among employees and/or operate in industries with a risk of high transmission. As vaccines mandates rollout across Los Angeles, it is critical to ensure vaccine access and equity for the workers of Los Angeles.=
The Heal Together coalition, a partnership across government, healthcare, business and community, is focused on providing equitable access to the COVID-19 vaccine in Los Angeles and getting more shots in arms. Throughout the months of October and November the coalition is hosting pop-up vaccination clinics in predominantly Black and Latinx communities throughout Los Angeles County. In addition to ensuring that vaccines are available to the communities most in need, the Heal Together coalition also is banning together to provide additional resources such as wellness screenings, COVID-19 testing, food and clothing distributions and mental health services. Find a full list of events at https://vaccinatela.info/events.
Communities of color have faced higher rates of COVID-19 infection in Los Angeles, and are overrepresented in frontline industries, including healthcare, childcare, retail, and transportation industries. Ensuring workers in these frontline and high-risk industries have easy access to the vaccine protects their physical health as well as their financial health as more employers implement vaccine requirements.
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Founded in April 2021, VaccinateLA is a partnership between USC, its Clinical and Translational Science Institute (SC CTSI), Los Angeles County, the City of Los Angeles Civil + Human Rights and Equity Department, and numerous community partners. To date, the campaign has reached over a million residents in Los Angeles through outreach, vaccine navigation,and a multi-media campaign designed to promote vaccinations in those communities with the lowest vaccination rates. This campaign was made possible by a donation from the W.M. Keck Foundation.