Michael Venton II, health and social services coordinator for Health Plan of Nevada, is pictured Friday, Nov. 12, 2021, in front of the Greater Carver Missionary Baptist Church on the Historic Westside of Las Vegas. Venton started a series of community outreach events, including at Black churches, to address vaccine hesitancy among the Black population.
Thursday, Nov. 18, 2021 | 2 a.m.
Michael Venton II stepped into the Greater Carver Missionary Baptist Church in West Las Vegas with one goal in mind: Get the skeptical crowd vaccinated against COVID-19.
Venton, who is the health and social services coordinator for Health Plan of Nevada (HPN), has connected with churches in the Historic Westside to dispel misinformation around COVID-19 vaccines and instruct residents on how to get vaccinated. His outreach efforts began before the pandemic in January 2020 with similar intentions — to engage with Black residents on health-related issues at their places of worship.
But not long after, Venton’s meetings were cut short by COVID restrictions. Rather than letting the shutdowns suppress his outreach, Venton adapted, instead focusing on scheduling vaccination appointments and accompanying residents who were at first wary of vaccines. And he has been successful, he said.
“I’ve had other jobs where I was kind of sitting at a desk and just kind of making cold calls or different things like that, but (in this job), I actually get a chance to engage with people and learn their story and make a difference,” he said.
Venton said that from his conversations, residents’ hesitancy to get vaccinated derived from a lack of trust in medical professionals or misinformation through social media and word-of-mouth. Since the vaccine rollout, statistics show, Black Americans have been far less likely than white Americans to be vaccinated, although the gap is narrowing.
The issue extends to his family too, Venton said, where rising tension from unvaccinated family members interferes with relationships.
Two of Venton’s family members died of COVID-19, he said — in August and November 2020, when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration had not yet approved the COVID vaccine — strengthening his desire to increase vaccination rates among Las Vegans. The FDA approved the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, the first to get the green light, for individuals 16-years-old and up on Dec. 11, 2020. Since then, the FDA has approved vaccines for everyone age 5 and older.
“I’ve urged everyone in my family to get it,” Venton said. “Even though I tell them about my job, and we’ve had shared experiences, they still don’t want to get the vaccine, but I’m steadily trying to get them informed about it.”
Venton, who is Black, moved to North Las Vegas in 2015 from Mississippi. When he was younger, church was a cornerstone of his community and now is an excellent launch point for his outreach, he said.
When worship services returned, Venton was eager to spread the word.
“I figured that churches would be a great place to start,” he said. “In speaking with the different pastors, they’re wanting to educate their congregations, and they’re very, very welcoming.”
Pastor James McCool said the outreach was well-attended by the church’s congregation, a group comprised of mostly residents ages 60 and older. McCool said Venton’s expertise in health care makes him a crucial figure for outreach.
“I don’t have the kind of platform to tell people, go get vaccinated, or go vote, or rather go vote for this one person,” McCool said. “No church platform should extend that far. I personally believe in teaching truth to empower.”
Providing Historic Westside residents with accurate vaccine information from someone who looks like them is key to his work, Venton said. As of Wednesday, 1,234,222 COVID-19 vaccinations have been completed in Clark County, according to the Southern Nevada Health District.
In ZIP code 89106, which includes the Historic Westside, 10,978 residents, or approximately 41.5%, have completed both doses of the vaccine as of Wednesday, according to SNHD. Clark County’s completed vaccination rate is 53.2%.
In Clark County, a $5,518,801 grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is also addressing disparities created by COVID-19. The program began in June 2021 and will extend to May 2023.
COVID-19 disproportionately affects minority communities in Clark County, according to a press release from the SNHD. These communities experience higher infection rates and lower vaccination rates, and the county will institute testing, educational and vaccination events in its outreach.
“The COVID-19 pandemic continues to highlight health disparities across the country and here in Clark County,” Dr. Fermin Leguen, district health officer at SNHD, said in a statement. “This effort will help us provide access to testing and vaccines, and especially provide trusted information sources to the community to help address vaccine-related questions to fight hesitancy about getting vaccinated.”
Ashley Melvin, a community health worker with HPN, recalled her first impressions of Venton — ambitious and hands-on, someone who was willing to meet residents in their own community to make change happen.
“Outreach events are important for the simple fact, when people see you face to face, they see your dedication,” she said. “That, in return, allows people to gain your trust.”
Venton said he was planning his next outreach event in hopes of extending this messaging to even more batches of residents.
“I wanted a way to reach that community,” he said. “I’ve just made sure that I’m available for questions and engage different people to make sure that they feel welcomed.”
