CLEVELAND — Editor's Note: The above video aired on February 9, 2021
On Friday afternoon, Cuyahoga County Executive Armond Budish and members of the county's Board of Health held a COVID-19 briefing.
While the county's number of coronavirus cases is improving, Budish is concerned that the county's minority residents are not getting the necessary access to the vaccine.
Budish announced that Cuyahoga County is working with Hamilton and Franklin counties to put together a formal request to Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, asking that he allocate at least 20% of the COVID-19 vaccine supply for minorities.
"We know that COVID has highlighted terrible inequities in our health system and we have to fix these issues," Budish stated. "We have to acknowledge them, shine a light on them and then make a change for the better. Just because something is tough doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t do it."
Budish's announcement comes as the Ohio Department of Health is preparing to launch a series of COVID-19 vaccine town halls that will focus on the facts while addressing several specific populations throughout the weeks ahead.
Each town hall event will be livestreamed on the Ohio Department of Health’s Facebook and YouTube pages. You can also watch HERE. The live streaming events are set to take place as follows:
- Monday, Feb. 22 at 6:30 p.m. – African-American Ohioans
- Tuesday, Feb. 23 at 6:30 p.m. – Hispanic/Latino Ohioans
- Monday, March 1 at 6:30 p.m. – Asian-American and Pacific-Islander Ohioans
- Tuesday, March 2 at 6:30 p.m. – Rural Ohioans
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You can watch Friday's Cuyahoga County COVID-19 briefing in the player below: