Sunflower and several other Delta counties are about to receive a booster, of sort, regarding transportation to area vaccination centers.
Last Thursday, Central District Transportation Commissioner Willie Simmons announced a collaborative agreement between the Mississippi Department of Transportation, Bolivar County Council on Aging and Delta Health Center that will provide the free service to citizens needing to take the coronavirus vaccine.
Simmons said the service is already operational so this is just an effort to "ramp it up."
Although Delta Health Center is a part of the partnership, the shared venture can provide a ride to any facility that has available vaccines including specified locations of Delta Health Center, Bolivar Medical Center, Delta State University’s drive-thru, Delta Health - The Medical Center’s drive-thru.
Or any other provider in Bolivar, Sunflower, Washington, Sharkey, Issaquena, Humphreys, Warren, Yazoo or Madison counties.
Simmons said, "We were fortunate because of the COVID-19, the state of Mississippi got an additional $69 million this year for the COVID-19 efforts in helping to transport and do things."
Simmons explained that although the BCCOA currently provides services similar to Uber, Yellow Cab or other mass transit systems in large cities, it provides this more important service by getting people to the vaccine. “We saw when COVID-19 first hit that it was hitting in communities like the Mississippi Delta," he said.
Simmons mentioned the perceptible inadequacies with regard to health care in the Delta and how it was affecting the mortality rate of the citizens there more than other areas.
Simmons stated that he, along with Senator Sarita Simmons, John Fairman, CEO of Delta Health Center, and State Representatives Otis Anthony, Abe Hudson and Tracy Rosebud have been working with State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs to get more vaccines into the Delta area.
He also mentioned the concern that the vaccine is being underutilized in certain communities. "We moved to the vaccine and we see fewer of our people getting the vaccine; that is not going to work out good for us because if we don't get the vaccine and we continue to get the virus it means that we're going to continue to die," Simmons said.
He added, "It is very important that we address this issue and the transportation is key to it and as the commissioner for the Central District in the Delta, 22 counties—1.1 million citizens, we want to push to make sure transportation is not a problem."
LaShonda McKinney, Executive Director, BCCOA said citizens who live outside of the Bolívar County area can call 877-866-8272, which is a direct line to their office, in order to schedule transportation to the vaccination sites or 662-846-6161 if local. "If you are in another area we will make certain that we get you scheduled in that area as well," she said.
McKinney offered assurance that their fleet of more than 60 vehicles is handled by well-trained drivers and are safe and disinfected.
"They are sanitized daily, we have drivers who are very compassionate about what they do," she said.
McKinney said that although the pandemic caused a reduction in their numbers, over the last two years they have safely provided over 200,000 passenger trips and traveled more than three million miles.
This portion of the BCCOA’s public transit program is funded by grants from MDOT and the federal government to provide the free services.
The purpose is to ensure that all citizens needing transportation to get to the vaccination sites will have available resources, especially in the rural areas of the state.
She too stressed that no matter which location provides the vaccine, the transportation service would be available and would be traveling during whatever times the vaccination centers are open.
In addition to the current initiative, McKinney said the transportation service also provides regular people-mover transports for a variety of reasons including employment, educational and medical needs, other than emergency medical.
She said they have many transportation partners, including private companies.
Fairman said, "We have limited transportation capabilities, so I'm really excited about us coming together to serve the public."
He used Thursday’s press conference to express his appreciation to Simmons and the others who were instrumental in assisting Delta Health Center including Congressman Bennie Thompson who he said was instrumental and getting a $66,000 contribution to assist with staffing. "Because we need extra nurses (and) extra providers we've brought on to do all of these things," he said.
Fairman said that Mound Bayou is not the only site administering the vaccine and that they currently have four sites and the capability of operating 11 in a five county area.
He said they have administered over 2,000 doses of vaccine so far and have not lost any. Fairman said that at one time they had 3,000 to 4,000 people on a list awaiting the vaccine. “The biggest issue that we have had is the predictability of supply," he said. Fairman said getting a consistent supply is their main issue.
Mentioning the efforts of the current presidential administration, Fairman said, that when things get to a point where Delta Health Center can predict what the supply will be, it will make the transportation scheduling easier.
Delta Health Centers have reportedly done over 19,000 tests and are continually testing. Fairman said Delta Health Center is soon to boast 18 locations across five counties. Seven school-based clinics are currently closed, but are expected to be open next month.
