South Dallas Restaurant Looks To Fight Vaccine Hesitancy – CBS Dallas / Fort Worth
DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) – In South Dallas, the words “two pieces and a pepper” need no explanation.
Now “Protect yourself and your community during a deadly pandemic” can also be added. Call it a “yummy” new enticement to get a COVID-19 vaccine that complements the Williams Chicken location on Robert B. Cullum.
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“I hesitated … but now I’m ready to do it,” promises customer Anthony Mester as he has lunch at the restaurant’s pick-up window today. Mester says he’ll be first in line at the South Dallas location on Saturday. “I need the shot, but the free food? I would like to have that too. “
Whatever works.
“Come out, come out – get a shot and get a two-piece!” says Tim Williams, operations director of Williams Chicken, with a laugh. Williams – unrelated to the chain’s founder, Hiawatha Williams – says this is just another way its founder seeks to serve and protect loyal customers.
“We ask you to trust us,” said Williams. “Believe in us that it is okay to have a COVID-19 vaccination. If you have a COVID-19 vaccination, we will also give you a free meal. “
On Saturday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., customers who consent to a COVID-19 vaccine will proceed to a free meal at the Williams Chicken location near Fair Park. It’s a partnership between the restaurant chain, the Catalyst Health Network – which will deliver the vaccines – and Project Unity.
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“At Project Unity we use everything that brings people together, and food is one of the things that brings people together,” said Richie Butler, founder of Project Unity. “So if we need a piece of chicken and we need to talk about your fears about the vaccine, we’ll do it so we can get some people vaccinated.”
Several neighborhoods in Dallas have vaccination rates of or near 80%, according to the Parkland Center for Clinical Innovation – also known as PCCI. But in 75210 – around the restaurant’s Fair Park location – vaccination protection drops to 26.37%.
“I don’t have to read it. I don’t have to research it, we live it, and I’ve lived it as a pastor, “says Butler,” and that’s part of the mandate of why we focus on getting people vaccinated. “
He knows firsthand that vaccination reluctance is real in the community. And he also admits to the frustration of knowing that an area hit hard by the coronavirus would still be so reluctant to use a vaccine that could protect against the deadly consequences. However, frustration is not the last word, he says: the proponents keep working.
“We set up a vaccination center today,” says Butler, “someone drove up and was afraid of being vaccinated because of misinformation. I mean, there is a lot of bad information out there. So we literally had to go through them. We invited the pastor to come out and pray with them, and they finally decided to get vaccinated. But it took prayers and information so that they got a chance. “
Williams Chicken’s next pop-up clinic is scheduled for July 24 at the West Illinois & Bonnie View location. A third is planned for August at the original location on Ledbetter and Sunnyvale.
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“They’ve trusted us for 30 years,” says Williams. “They have been shopping with us for 30 years and I hope our customers believe that we would do nothing to put them at risk.”
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