UW Health recruits Badger great Montee Ball to help with vaccine distribution

 

Posted: July 28, 2021 6:25 PM

Updated: July 28, 2021 7:16 PM

 

by Christina Lorey

 

MADISON, Wis.– #28 is known for turning things around for Wisconsin on the football field. Now, UW Health hopes having Montee Ball on its team will be a gamechanger in helping the state of Wisconsin improve its vaccination rate, specifically within the black community.

We’ve been reporting on doctors’ concern for weeks: that while nearly three-quarters of white people in Dane County are vaccinated, three-quarters of Black people are not.

“There are some things health care workers have done to break trust within the Black community, but this is most certainly not one of them,” said Montee Ball, in an exclusive interview with News 3. “Getting vaccinated is one of the things we need to come together as a team and do.”

This weekend, the Badger great is partnering with UW Health and the Wisconsin Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center for a free vaccination clinic at Penn Park this Saturday, July 31. The event runs from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and is open to anyone 18+. Health care workers will offer both the two-shot Moderna vaccine and the single-shot Johnson & Johnson.

Ball, who received the one-and-done J&J vaccine in March, will be onsite to talk with anyone who attends Saturday’s clinic about the vaccine, as well as his time with the Badgers and his stint in the pros, which he writes about in his new book, ‘Nowhere to Run.’

 “The statistics show that if you’re vaccinated, yes, you can still catch COVID, but the chances of you being hospitalized are drastically lower,” said Ball.