Fairlawn residents answered their door Saturday morning to find some surprise guests on the front stoop: Dr. Anthony Fauci and Mayor Muriel Bowser (D).
The two spent an hour and a half canvassing the neighborhood as part of the DC COVID-19 Community Corps Day of Action.
“Oh my god, it’s Dr. Fauci!” one woman screamed as she opened the door. “I’d come give you a kiss, but I’ve got a cold on.” The woman, who was already vaccinated, blew him a kiss from the top of the stairs instead. “Y’all see Dr. Fauci over here?” she called to her neighbors.
Another woman told Dr. Fauci that she hadn’t gotten the vaccine because she was worried she would contract the virus and then convey it to her children, who are not yet eligible to get the vaccine.
“You should get it then, because not only would it protect you, but then you’d protect your whole family,” Fauci said. “If you were to get infected, you could pass it on to them, but if you get vaccinated, you’re not going to get infected. Want to do it today?”
As part of the Community Day of Action Event, Bowser announced new incentives for DC residents who get vaccinated. Every week for the next four weeks, DC residents who are 18 and older and get their first (or only) dose of the COVID-19 vaccine at the RISE Demonstration Center, Anacostia High School, or Ron Brown High School can enter into a drawing to win:
- A 2021 Ford Escape Sport SE Hybrid and a 2021 Jeep Wrangler Sahara Unlimited (one winner each week)
- $10,000 for groceries, to cover approximately a year of free groceries (two winners each week)
- A year of free Metro bus and train (multiple winners each week)
“And your chances of winning are very, very good,” the Mayor said Saturday.
The full drawing rules and drawing schedule will be posted on coronavirus.dc.gov/incentives
Earlier this week, the Mayor announced that beginning Saturday, June 19, DC residents who are 12 and older and get their first COVID-19 vaccine dose at these three select sites [see full list below] will receive a $51 VISA gift card. Gift cards will be offered through Saturday, July 17.
While anyone can get vaccinated at District vaccination sites, the gift cards are only available to District residents. Residents between the ages of 12 and 17 must be accompanied by a guardian. Residents will receive the gift card after getting their shot.
Additionally, District residents who get vaccinated at Anacostia High School Saturday will be entered to win two roundtrip American Airlines tickets to anywhere the airline flies. The tickets can be used for domestic or international flights.
Although 60 percent of residents in the District as a whole have received at least their first shot of a COVID-19 vaccine, the numbers are not evently spread throughout the District. Communities such as Barbaby Woods in Northwest and Capitol Hill in Southeast have vaccinated 66 and 46 percent of residents aged 12 and up, there are still communities where the percentage of those eligible to be vaccinated is below 35 percent. In Twining, the health community that Fairlawn in part of, 28 percent of those 12 and older are vaccinated. Further south, Bellevue is at just under 23 percent.
Speaking at the launch of the day of action, Dr. Fauci thanked the volunteers for their work. “We’re depending upon all of you because you’re trusted messengers,” Fauci told the volunteers as they were about to canvass throughout the neighborhood. “I’d like to believe people listen to me, but some don’t. But when you have people that are part of the community, those are the ones they listen to.”
“This is a serious situation that is entirely preventable,” Fauci said of the pandemic. “The vaccines that we now have available to us can prevent any kind of clinical disease and almost completely prevent severe disease leading to hospitalization and death.”
That is particularly important to the African-American population, Fauci said. “There’s no doubt that African-Americans disproportionately suffer from the severe disease leading to hospitalization and in some cases, death.”
Walk-Up Vaccination Site Hours, Saturday, June 19
Anacostia High School*, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. | Pfizer, Ages 12+, Johnson & Johnson, Ages 18+
Arena Stage, 8 a.m. to 12 p.m., 1 p.m.to 5 p.m. | Johnson & Johnson, Ages 18+
Benning Stoddert Recreation Center, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. | Pfizer, Ages 12+, Johnson & Johnson, Ages 18+
Eastern High School, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. | Pfizer, Ages 12+, Johnson & Johnson, Ages 18+
Ida B. Wells Middle School, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. | Pfizer, Ages 12+, Johnson & Johnson, Ages 18+
RISE Demonstration Center*, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. | Johnson & Johnson, Ages 18+
Ron Brown High School**, 9 a.m.- to 5 p.m. | Pfizer, Ages 12+, Johnson & Johnson, Ages 18+
Luke C. Moore, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. | Pfizer, Ages 12+, Johnson & Johnson, Ages 18+
Walter E. Washington Convention Center, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., 2 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. | Johnson & Johnson, Ages 18+
*Site will have $51 gift cards for residents who come to receive their first vaccine dose and residents 18 and older can enter the Take the Shot, DC Giveaway.
**This new site, specifically added to target the high number of unvaccinated residents in the area, will also have $51 gift cards for residents who come to receive their first vaccine dose and residents 18 and older can enter the Take the Shot, DC Giveaway.
A full schedule of the days and hours of the current walk-up sites can be found on coronavirus.dc.gov/vaccinatedc. Some sites will have special hours on the Day of Action.
Residents are able to see approximate wait times, if there is a wait, at each site at coronavirus.dc.gov/dontwait. The walk-up sites are in addition to the pharmacies, clinics, and health care providers that are also administering the vaccines citywide. Residents can find the closest available vaccination location at vaccines.gov or by texting their zip code to GETVAX (438829) in English, or VACUNA (822862) in Spanish.
The COVID-19 vaccine is free.
