Jacksonville’s NAACP chapter is hoping to give the community Shots of Hope this Juneteenth.
Regina Williams of the Jacksonville NAACP says that they have partnered with the Illinois Emergency Management Agency and Passavant Area Hospital to offer 50 doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine at the Walnut Court Police Substation on Saturday: “We also will have the J&J vaccine for people who just want to come in and get one shot. If you get the Pfizer, you will have to come back. We are having another shot clinic on July 10th for the second shot. I also ask if they have a first shot in July, if somebody just walks in, they can still get it that day, but I will have to get their information to Nurse Jacquie Barringer at the Morgan County Health Department to schedule their second shot. We won’t be coming back until we try to schedule another clinic in the first portion of August so we might be able to catch the children who need their shot before they go back to school.”
The clinic will be offered from Noon until 4PM this Saturday. Some form of identification is required. The first 25 attendees will receive free food.
Williams says that the NAACP has received a grant from IPHA to help anyone with COVID assistance in the area. She says that the grant money will be available through October or until it runs out.
She says this year they are decorating Community Park with posters and information about Juneteenth. Williams says that Ruth Linnear and other members of the NAACP will be around to answer questions and talk to members of the public about the origins and significance of the holiday. She says the posters will commemorate Black members of the Jacksonville community that have gone on to great things both now and in the past.
If you have any questions about the celebration or the vaccine clinic, contact Williams at 217-243-3854 or email her at regwms1941@gmail.com.