BERKLEY, Mich. – A parking lot in Berkley was transformed into a mobile COVID vaccination clinic.
Many people were able to receive the Moderna vaccine on Friday. Carla Santiago-Leroy was one of those people. She said for her, getting the vaccine was personal.
“I have an 8-week-old and I’m breastfeeding. I did a lot of research into it and it’s one of the ways of getting the antibodies into the baby and since right now you wouldn’t want to put it (the vaccine) on a baby and it’s not even available for the children,” Santiago-Leroy said.
She said she did have her doubts though.
“It was hard to make the decision at first, to be honest. Just because the vaccine hasn’t been out for that long. You had that hesitation of, you know, what will be the long-term effects,” Santiago-Leroy said.
Leah Luger is the executive director of Yad Ezra, a Kosher Food Pantry in Berkley.
“I think there’s an implicit trust in the idea that, ‘If we are doing it then maybe it’s OK,’” Luger said.
The food pantry teamed up with Wayne Health’s mobile unit, which is part of Wayne State University and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan.
The goal is to bring the COVID vaccine to anyone who needs it. Residents can walk up or drive up to get vaccinated.
“We like to do things to serve our greater community. A lot of people trust us because they’ve been coming to us for a number of years. The idea of having a vaccine pop up clinic here, I thought might be a way to sway some people reluctant or hesitant about getting the vaccine, because they know and trust us,” Luger said.
Santiago-Leroy said having the vaccine accessible made the whole process easy and worth it.
“Especially here in Michigan with the variants going up. It just made sense for our family to do everything that we could, to protect ourselves and protect the people around us,” she said.
LIVE BLOG: Tracking COVID-19 vaccines in Michigan: New openings, clinics, appointments