VProject’s door-to-door vaccine effort begins today

TOLEDO, Ohio (WTVG) - Toledo’s “VProject,” a community-based effort to vaccinate residents amid the coronavirus pandemic, announced a new phase of its initiative today.

The V Project stands for victory over COVID-19 through vaccination. City leaders made the announcement outside the Mott Branch library Wednesday morning to represent the neighborhoods with the lowest vaccination rates in Toledo.

The latest strategy shift includes the door-to-door effort to make vaccines more easily accessible that starts today. Volunteers from The Movement grassroots organization will canvas Toledo neighborhoods to answer questions.

“We’re fighting an invisible ghost,” said The Movement organizer Tina Butts of coronavirus. “We’re going to turn every brick, every rock, we’ll be at every corner store... we’re going to have boots on the ground.”

She said The Movement’s involvement with the VProject is about protecting people and the most vulnerable in our society.

Starting Thursday, volunteers will start calling Toledo residents to help schedule vaccination appointments and answer any questions people have.

Sean Savage, the founder of the VProject, said the efforts are about accessibility.

“It’s going to be about a 12-week process to make it as easy as possible and remove every possible barrier that there can be to getting vaccinated,” said Savage. “That’s key to the communities we’re serving.”

The new efforts come as demand for the vaccine is waning and doses go unclaimed. About 38% of the Lucas County population has received at least their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, according to the Ohio Department of Health.

“We’re beginning to transition now and looking for creative ways to get the vaccine to people,” said Mayor Wade Kapszukiewciz. “There’s an untold number of people in our community who aren’t opposed to it but it hasn’t been easy for them to get it.”

The goal is to increase vaccination rates to a point where we reach herd immunity, which is around 70% of the population being vaccinated.

Other efforts from the VProject include a push to have employers and organizations host vaccine clinics and additional communication initiatives, like handing out informational materials. VProject leaders are encouraging business owners and organization leaders to reach out at its website for information on closed-pod vaccination clinics.