Montgomery County Makes Progress Closing Racial Gap in Vaccinations

Friday afternoon, county health officials offered free vaccinations outside of Afrikutz Barber & Beauty Shop in Silver Spring. Residents who received a free vaccine also received a free haircut.

The initiative was aimed at closing the COVID-19 vaccination gap between Black residents and white residents. Black residents currently have a vaccination rate 3% lower than white residents, but according to County Executive Marc Elrich, not so long ago, the gap used to be 18%.

MyMCM spoke to Elrich at the barbershop about how the county is working to provide information to communities who might be hesitant about the vaccine:

About Deirdre Byrne

Deirdre Byrne is a social media coordinator for Montgomery Community Media. She can be reached at dbyrne@mymcmedia.org or on twitter at @DeirdreByrneMCM.

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