For months, Karen Collins felt like she was living a double life. She spent nearly every day of the week working to get people in Chattanooga vaccinated, especially people of color, and fighting the rampant misinformation around the vaccine.
But, in her own family, she struggled to convince her adult children to take a dose.
“I was very angry,” Collins said. “I was sad. I was scared. I was full of rage at times because I know this is a tool, by that I mean vaccinations, by which we can help our community and you’re going to tell me that you’re not? You’re just not?”
She finally had some luck late last month, as a surge in the coronavirus driven by the delta variant seems to be convincing more people to get the shot.
Last week, the 12-county region surrounding Hamilton that includes Bledsoe, Bradley, Coffee, Franklin, Grundy, Marion, McMinn, Meigs, Polk, Rhea and Sequatchie counties was averaging more than 940 first-dose shots a day over a seven-day period, according to data from the Tennessee Department of Health. During the first week of July, the seven-day average for the same area was fewer than 300 first-dose shots a day.