For most people, August means back-to-school and the unofficial beginning of fall. But for those who don’t know, August is also National Immunization Awareness Month. This month, we are highlighting the importance of being vaccinated for people of all ages. This holiday could not be more relevant during this pandemic.
The pandemic has caused students to miss valuable time in the classroom to quarantine or attend virtual classes. Online learning does not work for every student, so learning gaps and inequities have been growing since the last school year. In-person learning also helps students learn valuable social skills like communication and how to work with others. When students are vaccinated, schools can carry on in-person instruction more freely and catch up on all the skills that students missed out on last year. ARMS and Birmingham City Schools have teamed up to get as many students vaccinated, as possible, before the start of the fall semester. We have been working hard to distribute COVID-19 vaccines to the public all summer and, this month, we will be working even harder to continue the fight against COVID-19 and its variant strains. However, we would like to take the time, right now, to reflect on the work that we have done this summer to prepare for the school year.
In partnering with Birmingham City Schools, we presented our “Best Shot for a Safe Return,” vaccine campaign, this summer. We hosted seven (7) pop-up vaccine clinics in high schools across the Birmingham area to students before school starts. Thus far, over 600 vaccines have been administered in our communities.
We believe in providing everyone with the quality healthcare that they need and deserve, including COVID-19 vaccinations. We want to connect with our communities by bringing quality care to them. Getting vaccinated is a vital part of ending this pandemic, so we wanted to bring the vaccines to the people who needed them in the hope that more students could return to school without fear.
Our goal for this campaign was to break down the barrier of searching for a place to be vaccinated. Instead, we brought COVID-19 vaccines to individuals so that they would feel more comfortable receiving a vaccine from the comfort of their own neighborhood. However, our efforts haven’t stopped there. We will continue the fight against COVID-19 as the school year begins by distributing as many COVID-19 vaccines, as possible, to all communities.
To learn more about our efforts in fighting COVID-19 or our next pop-up clinic, check out our social media pages. For more information about COVID-19 vaccines, visit www.cdc.gov/coronavirus.