Middlebury is holding a vaccination clinic for Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) who live in Addison County — as well as members of their households — at the Athletics Complex this Wednesday in partnership with the Rutland Area NAACP and the Vermont Department of Health.
The clinic will offer 102 doses of the Pfizer vaccine from 4–6 p.m. tomorrow. The college plans to host a clinic for administering second doses of the vaccine on May 19.
“We are grateful to be able to help support the healthcare of BIPOC members of our community, including our own faculty, staff, and students," President Laurie Patton told the Middlebury Newsroom. "It's important for the college to contribute to the vaccination effort in Addison County, which has provided us with so much support during the pandemic. We're glad to be able to offer our facilities for the event, and to contribute to health equity in our own communities.”
The clinic joins a state-wide effort to close the vaccination gap between white and BIPOC Vermonters. As of early April, just over 20% of BIPOC residents were partially or fully vaccinated, compared to around 33% of non-Hispanic white Vermonters, according to a press release from Governor Phil Scott. This gap has since narrowed to just over seven percentage points.
BIPOC residents have also been overrepresented in the state’s Covid-19 case counts. BIPOC Vermonters made up 6% of the state’s population but 18% of its Covid-19 cases as of December 2020.
Of the 2,142 BIPOC residents of Addison County, 55.2% have received at least one dose of a vaccine, according to the Vermont Department of Health Vaccine Dashboard. This figure is seven percentage points below the equivalent number for non-Hispanic white residents.
BIPOC residents were prioritized at different stages in Vermont’s vaccine rollout. The state opened appointments to all BIPOC residents age 16 or older on April 1. Before that date, BIPOC residents who were eligible earlier in the rollout due to age, occupation or health reasons could also schedule appointments for members of their household.
Currently, 59.3% of all eligible Vermonters have received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine, and 41% are fully vaccinated.
Eligible residents can make appointments through the Department of Health website or by calling the department at 855-722-7878.
Abigail Chang ’23 (she/her) is the Editor in Chief.
She previously served as a managing editor, Senior News Editor, News Editor and co-host of The Campus' weekly news radio show.
Chang is majoring in English and minoring in linguistics. She is a member of the Media Portrayals of Minorities Project, a Middlebury lab that uses computer-assisted and human coding techniques to analyze bulk newspaper data.
Throughout last year, Chang worked on source diversity and content audits for different media properties as an intern for Impact Architects LLC. Chang spent summer 2021 in Vermont, working as a general assignment reporter for statewide digital newspaper VTDigger. Chang is also a member of the Middlebury Paradiddles, an a cappella group.
