Shots in Arms

Yad Ezra hosted a mobile vaccine clinic April 23.

Yad Ezra, BCBS, WSU Medical Schools and Wayne Health collaborate to distribute vaccines.

DANNY SCHWARTZ STAFF WRITER

YAD EZRA

Yad Ezra, Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS), Wayne State Medical School and Wayne Health collaborated to offer vaccines to Yad Ezra clients and others who had not been able to get an appointment yet.

This effort took place at Yad Ezra on April 23.

Yad Ezra’s Executive Director Lea Luger serves on the governor’s Protect Michigan Commission, which encourages people to wear masks and social distance to combat the spread of COVID.

Luger chairs the faith-based subcommittee group. During a call, members expressed interest in Yad Ezra hosting a site to administer the vaccine because of all it does for the community.

“Given we’re an organization that’s been in business for 31 years and there’s a level of trust that our clients have for us, I said wouldn’t it be great if we could be a site to administer the vaccines? And because we’re in neighborhoods where our constituents live,” Luger said.

Luger approached the governor’s office with hopes of being one of those sites, citing concerns that many of its clients, especially in the Russian population, may not be so comfortable with getting the vaccine otherwise.

“If they knew it was happening at Yad Ezra, people might be more inclined to participate and get vaccinated,” Luger said.

Luger connected with Suzanne Miller of BCBS and, through her efforts, she was able to coordinate an effort between the four organizations to administer vaccines to their client population.

Yad Ezra, with the help of volunteers, made phone calls to its client base who had not yet gotten the vaccine to let them know. Sign-ups as well as walkins were available. People stayed in their cars and drove into Yad Ezra’s parking lot, with medical personnel administering the vaccine.

Yad Ezra targeted their clients who may be more compromised and may not have access to other facilities or transportation. Then, it opened to others to make sure every vaccine went into someone’s arm; about 500 vaccines were available.

Key people from each organization, including Dr. Phil Levy from Wayne State School of Medicine, Colleen Whatley from Wayne Health (formerly known as the Wayne State University Physician Group) and Erica Stamatoulakis from BCBS, all played important roles in the collaboration. “I couldn’t have done this without them,” Luger said.

“I’m very proud of this,” Luger reflected. “Here’s a way to reach out to a client population that’s vulnerable and maybe lacks the ability for whatever reason to navigate the system. Here we had the opportunity to bring the vaccines to them, by bringing it here to our building.”