Top Local Elected Officials Get Vaccinated

Three of Milwaukee’s top elected officials received a COVID-19 vaccine Tuesday to encourage more citizens to take advantage of the free vaccine clinics being operated by the city and the county.

County Executive David Crowley, County Board Chairwoman Marcelia Nicholson, and Common Council President Cavalier Johnson each received their first dose of vaccine at the Kosciuszko Community Center.

The community center is being operated by the county as a vaccination site and along with being open for county employees and Medicaid long-term care patients, the site is also open to residents of 10 Milwaukee zip codes that rank the highest on the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s Social Vulnerability Index.

The Kosciuszko site is by appointment only. But the county has also partnered with the City of Milwaukee in launching two walk-in vaccination clinics at North Division High School, 1011 W. Center St. and South Division High School, 1515 W. Lapham Blvd. Those sites opened Monday.

The zip codes being targeted have had some of the worst COVID-19 outcomes in the county during the pandemic, and they also, on average, face more challenges with social determinants of poorer health, like higher unemployment rates, lower incomes and housing insecurity.

Upon receiving his vaccine Tuesday, Crowley said, “This is important for me and my family. Before I came here I made sure to have a conversation with my daughters and my wife about the importance of just science and medicine in general.”

Crowley said the public needs to understand that the vaccine “is important to make sure that we can reach a level of normalcy particularly this summer.”

Johnson and Nicholson received their vaccines at the same time as Crowley, and Nicholson said she was happy they were there. “I’m not going to lie, I was a little bit nervous about this vaccine, and I understand the apprehension, especially as it relates to the African-American community and our history with the medical sector.”

She said she was happy to learn the vaccine was developed in part by the work of a Black woman. And despite her apprehension, she said the vaccine was important to moving beyond the pandemic.

She explained that while she isn’t concerned about her own health, she is very concerned about the health of her 90-year-old grandmother, and can’t wait to visit her after she’s completed her vaccination.

Johnson echoed his colleagues from the county, and said, “The shot that we all got in our arm today, helps to move our community forward.”

He said that in order to beat the pandemic, everyone has to do their part. So he encouraged everyone to get a vaccine, “Come and get this vaccine so that we can move our neighborhoods, our city and our county, as well as our state, forward.”

Appointments can be made by visiting the website for the county’s Office of Emergency Management. Or on the city’s vaccine website, or by calling 414-286-6800.

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