Agriculture secretary urges Braddock residents to take advantage of farm stand vaccine clinic

A free covid-19 vaccine clinic is being held at a Braddock farm stand and Pennsylvania Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding wants residents to take advantage of it.

The clinic, being held in partnership with UPMC, will take place on Wednesday from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the Braddock Farm Stand on Braddock Avenue.

According to Redding, Braddock has the lowest covid vaccine rate in Allegheny County with just over 40% of eligible residents partially vaccinated.

However, Braddock Mayor Chardaé Jones said that figure can be misleading. She says the dashboard on the total number of cases in each community is done by municipality while the dashboard on the vaccine rate is done by ZIP code.

Still, Jones acknowledges that the vaccine rate in Braddock is comparatively low.

“I do imagine that it’s low among the young people who are eligible for the vaccine. There’s a lot of vaccine hesitancy coming from younger people,” she said. “Young people feel that they’re invincible. I hear people say, ‘well, if I get it, I’ll be OK’ and I don’t think that’s the mindset to have.”

Redding said it’s important to ensure every Pennsylvanian has access to the covid-19 vaccine.

“Urban gardens and farm markets are trusted neighborhood leaders,” he said. “Community vaccine clinics, like those being offered at the Braddock Farm Stand, provide an opportunity to protect yourself, your family and your greater community from covid-19.”

Redding also points out that with no grocery stores in Braddock, the Braddock Farm Stand is now filling the void for the lack of both grocery stores and pharmacies, offering the community a free, accessible covid-19 vaccine clinic.

For her part, Jones said it’s a step in the right direction. However, she believes, at this point, the people who wanted to get vaccinated have already done so.

“I feel like, right now, we’re just dealing with hesitancy,” she said. “It’s nerve-wracking to know that with the vaccine rate so low in the 15104 (ZIP code), that the fall and the winter is going to be hard. Because covid is not going anywhere anytime soon.”

The Braddock Farm Stand vaccine clinic is open to the public, and no registration is required. The single dose Johnson & Johnson covid-19 vaccine will be available for eligible people 18 and older. The Pfizer vaccine will also be available as an alternative and for school-aged children 12 and older.