Petersburg has one of the 10 worst case rates per 100,000 residents in Virginia. So far, the city has had 3,914 confirmed cases, 165 hospitalizations and 86 deaths to the coronavirus though this week has shown a record-low in case rates statewide.
Amid a national push to get vaccinated, Biden said that the country is in a vastly different place than it was the summer before and that every American should have the right to get vaccinated.
But what do local barbershops think about taking part in the President’s initiative to spread the word about vaccine promotion?
Samuel Cole has owned Salon 22 on S. Crater Road since 2018. He ended up shutting down his salon for several months during the pandemic resulting in a big monetary hit for his business. At this stage he says that a public-facing business like his offers too many interactions that could cause people to get sick, especially because his salon has many older clients.
A man get his hair cut by a Black barber in Tennessee. Image: Youtube/@sanstormproductions
President Joe Biden announced plans Wednesday to recruit 1,000 Black-owned barbershops and hair salons to promote the nationwide vaccination effort.
The effort, called Shots at the Shop, is a collaboration between the Biden administration, the Black Coalition Against COVID, the University of Maryland Center for Health Equity, and SheaMoisture. The group will reach out to local barbershops and salons to support the local vaccine education and outreach efforts and provide vaccination shots onsite.
The plan comes less than a month after public health practitioners and researchers joined together with 10 Maryland-area salons and barbershops to create health and wellness hubs to fight the pandemic and dispel rumors and myths about the vaccine.
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The president intends to announce the “Shots at the Shop” initiative during Wednesday remarks, which will recruit barbershops and salons to mobilize their communities to get vaccinations throughout June.
Participating barbershops and salons are expected to provide and display vaccine information and educational materials, as well as host vaccination events with assistance from local partners.
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The administration is working with the Black Coalition Against COVID, the University of Maryland Center for Health Equity and SheaMoisture to initiate the effort.
“The ‘Shots at the Shop’ initiative will invite participation from across the country, with a particular focus on supporting shops in some of the hardest-hit localities still experiencing significant gaps in vaccination rates,” a fact sheet from the White House said.