THD Partners With Oklahoma Caring Van To Help Vaccinate At-Risk Communities

The Tulsa Health Department is working with the Oklahoma Caring Foundation to get the COVID-19 vaccines to at-risk communities.

With a more than 20-year partnership, the Manager of Clinic Services at the Tulsa Health Department, Ellen Niemitalo said it only makes sense for them to tackle this new obstacle together.

The mobile caring vans, provided by the Oklahoma Caring Foundation, are being used to provide access to the COVID-19 vaccines for eligible Tulsa County residents.

"The health department is providing the vaccine, providing the nursing staff, and we are proving our van and team,” the manager for the Oklahoma Caring Foundation Amy Pulliam said.

Those eligible include health care workers, first responders and adults 65 and older. Pulliam said their goal is to provide mobile caring vans for folks may not have access to register.

"Also, may have issues with transportation to get to that particular appointment, to get that vaccine,” Pulliam said.

The vaccines will be given to predominantly minority residents at six different locations this week.

According to the Tulsa Health Department, in Tulsa County, 13 percent of the population is Hispanic or Latino. However, almost 20 percent of COVID-19 cases have been in the Hispanic or Latino population.

"The COVID disease in the African American population is lower than would be expected,” Niemitalo said.

Pulliam hopes they can continue to partner with the Tulsa Health Department through the rest of the COVID-19 vaccine phases.

To find more information regarding vaccine availability in Tulsa County, click here.