Jacksonville church hosts event to vaccinate underserved seniors

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Saint Stephen AME Church in Jacksonville will serve as a COVID-19 vaccination site this weekend for seniors in the Black community, the church announced Thursday.

Starting on Saturday at 9 a.m., 600 senior citizens in the African-American community will have appointments to receive the Moderna vaccine, the church wrote in a press release. The event runs until 4:30 p.m.

The vaccination site will be at the Saint Stephen Child Care & Learning Center on North Davis Street.

The second dose will be administered at the same place on March 6.

The announcement comes as Gov. Ron DeSantis has made a push to hold vaccinations at places of worship around the state with a focus on Black churches. More than 30 places of worship will host vaccinations this week, he said.

St. Matthew Baptist Church in Jacksonville’s Moncrief neighborhood started administering 500 pre-selected doses of the vaccine to people 65 and older in January.