Camden Mayor Holding 'Vaccine Parade' As COVID Numbers Increase In Garden State
CAMDEN, N.J. (CBS) -- Camden Mayor Victor Carstarphen plans to hold a parade Tuesday to encourage residents to get their COVID-19 vaccine shot. In addition to regular parade elements, like the Camden High School marching band and a Mr. Softee truck, there will be mobile vaccination vehicles.
According to the mayor's office, around 59% of adult residents have had at least one dose of the vaccine. That's a 5% increase over the past four weeks.
Those aren't the only numbers increasing; there has been an uptick in COVID cases as well. As of Saturday, 266 cases in the county are the Delta variant. Around 99% of those who have contracted it are unvaccinated.
Getting more people vaccinated would slow down these numbers.
"My goal is to get as many people vaccinated as possible. I've set a 70% goal of vaccinations. If we can get there we can set a new goal," Mayor Carstarphen says.
Officials hope the parade will quell some people's fears and worries over getting the shot.
"There is still a lot of uncertainty in the community regarding these vaccines, and the commissioner board, the county health department, and our partners are hitting the streets every day to correct the misinformation that's spreading rampantly online and in some social circles," said County Commissioner Al Dyer in a release about the parade.
All of this to hopefully calm people down when it comes to getting the shot.
"If there are some fears that the community has, I'd like to talk about it," Mayor Carstarphen says.
The parade starts Wednesday, Aug. 10, at 12:15 p.m., beginning at 1700 South 9th Street.
CBS3's Wakisha Bailey contributed to this report.
