Local vaccine distribution efforts are reaching far and wide.

As health care systems connect with their existing patients, clinics like HealthNet of Rock County are trying to reach underserved populations in the area.

CEO Ian Hedges said many non-white community members don’t see medical institutions as a safe place because of a history of health care disparities and medical malpractice for patients of color.

Hedges pointed to a history of forced sterilizations in the south and the infamous Tuskegee experiment, where Black men were medically mistreated in a decades long study by the federal government.

In trying to reach these populations with the COVID-19 shots, HealthNet is partnering with community groups and churches to dispel ongoing fears and clear up misinformation about the vaccines.

The non-profit clinic has vaccinated over 500 patients so far with zero wasted doses of the vaccine.