Families mourn the loss of loved ones who hesitated on the Covid-19 vaccine

Despite vaccines being widely available for teenagers and adults, demand has slowed drastically since mid-April. At the time, the country was administering an average of 3.4 million doses per day. That moving average is now close to 600,000 per day as of Tuesday, the most recent day for which the figure is available, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Local governments are offering financial incentives for people to get the shot. Medical experts and officials are also seeing effective strategies by local pastors, coaches and community leaders working on a grass-roots level to encourage people. The word-of-mouth approach from trusted voices can be powerful, said the Rev. R.B. Holmes Jr., a prominent pastor who leads the Bethel Missionary Baptist Church in Tallahassee, Florida​. This spring, his church invested in a mobile medical unit to make health care more accessible in his community.