Across the country, polls continue to find a share of the population continues to be hesitant or outright opposed to getting a COVID-19 vaccine shot.

But that’s not what 9th District City Councilman Michael J. Jones has experienced.

He said calls to his office have run 20-1 from Black and brown people seeking the vaccine, rather than voicing objections.

He said those calls from anxious constituents were his motivation for speaking out for increased distribution of the vaccine in Richmond’s South Side.

Joined by 8th District Councilwoman Reva M. Trammell, Dr. Jones, who is not a doctor of medicine, has sought to ensure that the state Health Department and the Richmond Health District provide greater distribution of the vaccine, particularly for Black and brown populations that comprise a large share of the city’s population.

Since Dr. Jones began his crusade, more vaccine has been going to areas south of the James River. The parking lot at Second Baptist Church of South Richmond at 3300 Broad Rock Blvd. has become a mass vaccination site one day a week for the Richmond and Henrico health districts. The Walgreens drug store at Hull Street Road and Warwick Road also has become a vaccination site.

Delegate Betsy Carr noted that both Walgreens and CVS pharmacies are “partnering with Uber and Lyft” to make access to their stores easier for those who have vaccine appointments.

Also, this week, the local health districts stepped up efforts to reach all seniors in South Side and other parts of the city to ensure they have appointments for shots.

A hotline, (804) 205-3501, is now operating from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday to set vaccination appointments for seniors 65 and older.

Others who want to get inoculated can register on the state Health Department’s website at vaccinate.virginia.gov or call toll free at (877) 829-4682.

Meanwhile, the state Health Department is ramping up distribution of shots in areas with large populations of Black and Latino residents. The VDH this week opened four sites that each can deliver 3,000 or more shots a day. The closest one to Richmond is the Virginia State University Multi-Purpose Center, where residents of Chesterfield and the Petersburg Metro area can get vaccinated.

Questions remain, however, whether participation in mass vaccination will remain high. Virginia, like most states, is still working to vaccinate the state’s priority 1B group of elderly people and essential workers.

President Biden, in a televised address last Friday, called on states to make all adults eligible for vaccines by May 1. That will be the real test for health officials seeking to get 70 percent to 80 percent of the population vaccinated to create what is known as “herd immunity” against the virus.

As of Wednesday, in Virginia, where enthusiasm remains high, more than 1 million residents, or 12 percent of the state’s 8.5 million population, were reported fully vaccinated.

Another 846,000 people had received at least one shot, bringing the total to 21.6 percent of the state.

But voluntary vaccination could hit a wall in coming months, if the polls prove accurate.

According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, which is conducting monthly surveys of attitudes toward vaccination, only 55 percent of those living in cities, the suburbs or rural communities either have gotten a shot or are trying to get one. Of the remaining 45 percent, about half are still in a wait-and-see mode. The rest have responded to the survey that they would not get vaccinated until it became mandatory, with a smaller fraction saying they would never get vaccinated.

Self-identified white Republicans are among the large group who said they would reject vaccination, according to the KFF survey.

But a majority of Black people still are not ready to get a shot, the most recent KFF survey found.

The most interested are those age 50 and older, with more than 70 percent of those age 65 and older rushing to do.

Still, according to KFF, 58 percent of Black people remain undecided about getting vaccinated, would require vaccination to be made mandatory or would refuse vaccination.

KFF found some good news in that currently 41 percent of Black people have been or want to be vaccinated, up 20 percentage points from November.

The KFF said the trend is moving in the right direction, noting the trend line could continue to move up as elders share their vaccine experience with family and friends.

Just as important, KFF stated, is ensuring people can receive the vaccine from those they trust in health care, including their own doctor and community clinics.