Health department workers in one North Carolina county are now going door to door to urge residents to take a COVID-19 vaccine shot — which they’re prepared to deliver on the spot.
The outreach program comes after President Joe Biden vowed that his administration would go door to door to encourage Americans to get vaccinated.
“We are continuing to wind down the mass vaccination sites that did so much in the spring. … Now, we need to go community by community, neighborhood by neighborhood, and oftentimes door to door, literally knocking on doors, to get help for the remaining people protected from the virus,” Biden said last week.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki went further, saying the administration would deploy “strike forces.” “That’s one of the reasons we initiated these strike forces to go into communities and work with them to determine what they need. To take a localized, specific approach that works with elected officials in communities.”
In Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, just 49% of residents have received at least one vaccine shot.
“The county also has a home-based vaccination request form on its website,” Fox News reported. “The latest update for Mecklenburg County includes data through July 7, which reported an average of 57 confirmed cases per day. As of July 7, the health department had administered 77,774 first doses of vaccine, and 72,308 second shots.”
“We’re not confrontational, it’s not like you have to get the shot,” Robert Dawkins, a volunteer with Action NC, told WBTV.com. “But our job is to dispel rumors and things. We get people that will say ‘yes I will get the shot,’ but the follow-up has always been the issue. Will they go? How can we get people to go out and go? So, now that the health department is out with us, we miss that middle man.”
After Biden announced his plan to go door to door, critics blasted the move. Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX) took to social media to criticize the new strike-force plan.
“How about don’t knock on my door. You’re not my parents. You’re the government. Make the vaccine available, and let people be free to choose. Why is that concept so hard for the left?” he wrote on Twitter.
Country star John Rich offered a different plan: “FYI: To any of Biden’s missionaries who feel moved to knock on my door to push me to get the jab, I’ll kindly invite you in, tell you about Jesus and make you listen to Ronald Reagan speeches until dinner. If you’re still here, we’ll have a slow, full reading of the Constitution.”
Radio host Steve Deace added: “Why do we need a ‘vaccine passport’ system if they’re able to go door-to-door to the unvaccinated? Doesn’t that mean they already know? Oh, and come to my door and I’ve got two words for you: Jehovah’s Witnesses.”
And actor James Woods said simply: “Will you be wearing armbands?”