Tidewell Hospice, NAACP Partner to Provide COVID Vaccine to Underserved Populations

April 5, 2021 – Sarasota

Tidewell Hospice and the Sarasota Chapter of the NAACP have teamed up to make sure the vital COVID-19 vaccine reaches at-risk and underserved populations.

The community partners have scheduled four vaccine clinics in predominantly African-American neighborhoods in Sarasota. About 200 people, registered through the NAACP, will receive a first dose of the Moderna vaccine at each of the first two clinics. Those people will return four weeks after their first shot for a second dose. 

Tidewell Hospice clinicians and volunteer nurses will administer the vaccine. Staff and volunteers from Tidewell, the NAACP and other community organizations will provide logistical support at the sites.

Following is the schedule of upcoming vaccine events:

First shots

Saturday, April 10 — Light of the World Int’l Church (3809 Chapel Drive, Sarasota)

Wednesday, April 14 — Bethlehem Baptist Church (1680 18^th St., Sarasota)

Second shots

Saturday, May 8 — Light of the World Int’l Church (3809 Chapel Drive, Sarasota)

Wednesday, May 12 — Bethlehem Baptist Church (1680 18^th St., Sarasota)

The current pandemic of COVID-19 has underscored the already disparate treatment and care of vulnerable multicultural populations across the nation. The same is true in Sarasota County. Nationally, although African-Americans make up 13 percent of the population, they represent a third of deaths related to COVID-19. Numerous well-known social determinants of health drive the multicultural disparities that exist in healthcare and socioeconomic outcomes for the ethnic and cultural minority communities in the United States.

Trevor Harvey, the president of the Sarasota Chapter of the NAACP, said his organization’s goal is to bring a coalition of churches and other grassroots organizations together to create equitable access to COVID-19 vaccination within black and brown communities.

“Oftentimes there are a number of underlying challenges that communities of color are presented with, and one way to have an equitable process is to bring the resources into the community,” Harvey said. “This partnership with Tidewell is a result of our continued advocacy work to help achieve the goal and close the gap.”

In response to the challenges presented to our communities by the COVID-19 pandemic, Tidewell Hospice and the newly created Tidewell Hospice Foundation have committed experience, insight and initiative to facilitating stronger ties among our region’s health and social service providers, while helping people navigate the range of care options those partnerships would create and sustain.

“Tidewell Hospice, as a member of the Empath Health integrated network of care, is honored and privileged to be partnering with the community to help increase access to COVID-19 vaccines,” said Jonathan Fleece, President of Empath Health and CEO of Tidewell Hospice. “Tidewell has proudly served the diverse needs of this region for over four decades, and there is no greater way to contribute than helping to end this pandemic.”