Wake sends teams door to door in some neighborhoods to boost vaccinations

More than 4,500 new infections were reported statewide on Friday, which is the highest one-day total in almost six months. The state is now averaging nearly 3,300 cases a day.

Yet, the state has almost doubled the number of first doses of vaccine administered in recent weeks, moving from less than 41,000 during the week leading up to July 4 to more than 77,000 last week.

Wake County health officials are hoping to boost those vaccination numbers even further by sending doctors and social workers straight to people's front doors to offer the vaccine and answer their questions.

On Friday, Dr. Nerissa Price of WakeMed and Lwiza Escobar Garcia, a community engagement specialist with Resolve to Save lives, spent five hours Friday walking through the Kingsborough Estates Mobile Home Park, off New Bern Avenue in east Raleigh.

"This is not thousands of people. This is one individual per home after walking during a very sweaty day," Garcia said.

"Just the past two weeks, I’ve been able to vaccinate 32 people," Price said.

Officials use census data and other numbers to pinpoint where vaccination rates are low in the county and where residents might not have access to health care or transportation. Price said each shot given likely means at least one fewer severe illness or death from COVID-19.

"You never know the impact of just that one person on the rest of their community," she said. "They may talk to their family members, and maybe that may encourage others in their circle to get the vaccine. So, every vaccine counts."

Some of those the team contacts have already been vaccinated. Others, like a pregnant woman on Friday, have many questions about the vaccine.

Escobar Garcia said long conversations with residents prove to be the biggest game-changer for most people. Although the pregnant woman declined the vaccine, two other residents did agree to roll up their sleeves.

"Being able to, one, provide that easy access to a clear and safe response your question and to provide the vaccine right in the comfort of your home has been really exciting to see," she said.

Price, who is Black, said it's also important that she go into neighborhoods where people might relate to her more than a state or local official.

"It’s not just the message, it’s the messenger," she said. "People are fearful, and they aren’t sure who to trust. But when they see a face such as mine, someone who is willing to talk to them, engage with them and hear what their worries are, they have different feelings."