Human Rights Campaign & White House Join Forces for COVID-19 Vaccination Campaign

HRC’s Religion & Faith program will organize and support several events across the country to ensure that religious communities get the resources and information they need to immunize worshipers. By leveraging HRC’s relationships with dozens of local LGBTQ-affirming religious communities and implementing vaccination initiatives, vaccination rates in these communities could be dramatically increased.

At the start of the campaign, HRC’s main responsibility will be to organize religious communities and provide support by liaising with local health services and pharmacies to set up mobile vaccination sites and community events. public education to help communities get fully immunized.

Currently, five mobile vaccination sites have been coordinated and several others are being planned:

• • St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church, Saturday, June 26, 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. ET,
  • Middle Collegiate Church, Saturday, June 26, 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. ET
  • Washington DC;
  • Foundry UMC, Saturday, June 12, 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. ET, mobile vaccination site

• Saint Louis, Missouri;
  • Faith for Justice, Deaconess Foundation, Eden Seminary, St. John’s UCC The Beloved Community, Saturday June 19, mobile vaccination site

• Huntsville, Alabama;
  • Stomp out HIV, Saturday June 26, mobile vaccination site

There are disparities in confidence and comfort with vaccines among LGBTQ people, especially in the BIPOC and bi + communities, which underscore the need for community awareness and education. At the start of the vaccine rollout, the HRC Foundation and PSB Insights released “COVID-19 and the LGBTQ Community: Vaccinations and the Economic Assessment of the Pandemic,” which highlights what LGBTQ people think about the vaccine and how they continue to benefit. ‘get out of it in the face of the coronavirus. economy.

The research, which was published in March 2021, showed that LGBTQ adults overall said they were “very likely” to receive the COVID-19 vaccine (42%) at higher rates than the general population. adult in general (39%). But major differences existed between LGBTQ adults, with just 29% of black LGBTQ adults, 32% of bisexual women, and 39% of LGBTQ Latinx adults expressing similar feelings. The research was published as part of the HRC Foundation’s vaccine public education campaign, “For Ourselves, For Each Other: Going to the other side of the pandemic.” This campaign focuses on educating the LGBTQ community, in particular the LGBTQ people of BIPOC, by addressing medical mistrust. Other HRC immunization resources have also been created, such as FAQs to address community concerns about vaccine safety and how to access the vaccine.

FOR ADVICE: The Human Rights Campaign Foundation and the White House Office of Public Engagement are kicking off the national immunization campaign with a virtual launch where community members, religious leaders and the media can learn more about the different initiatives and how to s ‘involve.

WHAT: Virtual launch of LGBTQ Affirming Faith Communities vaccination campaign

WHO: Josh Dickson, Senior White House Advisor on Public Engagement

Rev. Dr. Neil Thomas, Senior Pastor, Cathedral of Hope, Dallas, Texas

Alphonso David, President of the Human Rights Campaign

Michael Vazquez, Director of the Religion and Faith Program of the Human Rights Campaign

WHEN: TODAY, June 14, 8 p.m. ET

OR: RSVP to Aryn Fields at aryn.fields@hrc.org for a membership link.