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New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo was in Westchester County at Grace Baptist Church in Mount Vernon on Monday, March 22 to announce the new campaign to promote houses of worship of all faiths across the state to sign up as vaccination sites for their communities.
Houses of worship have all been given the green light to serve as points of distribution for the COVID-19 vaccine beginning in April.
As part of this new campaign, medical providers are being asked to volunteer to partner with houses of worship to conduct vaccination clinics, furthering the state's commitment to ensure fairness and equity in the vaccine distribution process.
According to Cuomo, more than 200 houses of worship have signed up to serve the community since Monday, March 8.
“Faith leaders are the most trusted voices in their respective communities, and with their help, we will be able to reach those New Yorkers who have suffered the most from this pandemic and bring the vaccine to the communities that got hit the hardest by COVID," Cuomo said.
"Through this collaborative initiative, we will make sure that no neighborhood gets left behind in the vaccination phase of this ongoing fight,” Cuomo continued. “We have a duty to make sure the vaccine distribution is fair and equitable so that our communities that suffered the most in the peak of the pandemic do not get hit with yet another injustice.”
Cuomo made note that it’s important to team with the houses of worship to help dispel preconceived notions about vaccines in communities with large populations of people of color.
“COVID discriminates,” he said on Monday. “It has killed twice as many Black people as white people … It has killed one and a half times as many Hispanics as white people.
“Justice says to let those who are afflicted the most be the first in receiving the vaccine. And that’s our goal.”
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