Vaccine disparities improving in Louisiana

SHREVEPORT, La. (KSLA) - The fight to get people vaccinated has not stopped. Reports show 45 percent of the state of Louisiana is fully vaccinated.

While the vaccine is readily available across the state, efforts were made just several months ago to get people in hard to reach areas to get the shot.

Back in February, the Louisiana Department of Health reported 47.1 percent of Caucasian people had taken the vaccine in Louisiana, and only 16.9 percent of Black people had done the same.

Now in October, that number looks different. In Caddo Parish specifically, 42.9 percent of Black people are fully vaccinated and 50.2 percent of Caucasian people are fully vaccinated.

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LSU Health Shreveport’s Chancellor of Research Chris Kevil believe the numbers have increased because of availability and credibility of the vaccine.

“One of the things that I think did help is when the FDA gave it the full scrutiny of any vaccine it would have every given any other time. Now that it has happened, I can tell you that many of friends from different backgrounds and ethnicities are much more at ease and comfortable,” he said.

To bridge the gap in disparities, the state launched a campaign in March called Bring Back Louisiana to help get vaccines to hard to reach communities.

Mount Canaan Baptist Church was part of this campaign. Church Administrator Travis Bogan says it gave a lot of people the opportunity to get information and access to those who might not have had it before.

“Given that we’re located in the Allendale community, certainly there are persons who reside here who have some transportation challenges,” he said.

Bogan says they plan to offer the vaccine again later this month.

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