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CoMMuNity uPDAte infections as of Feb. 26
6,422
infections as of Feb. 21 6,271
bellmore
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Local vaccine rollout now under way macy’s website to re gister online. Ninety percent of the people who received a vaccine at pbelfiore@liherald.com, aseidman@liherald.com Keezac Pharmacy were regular One hundred doses of Moder- customers from Bellmore, Merna’s coronavirus vaccine arrived rick, Wantagh and other surat Keezac Pharmacy in Bellmore rounding communities, Sheth last week, and 100 said. more are expected The local pharto arrive at the end macy administered of the month, 100 shots to resiaccording to owner dents 65 and older and phar macist over four days. Sam Sheth. Twenty people Sheth said he were inoculated was fortunate to after regular busireceive the initial ness hours (bedelivery, and noted tween 5 and 7 p.m.) that he had applied last Wednesday, to both state and Thursday and Frifederal distributors d a y, a n d t h e to receive a ship- SAM SHetH remaining 40 doses ment every Monwere administered Owner, day for four weeks. last Saturday. “It was a long pro- Keezac Pharmacy Although concess to register ourverting the pharselves,” he said, macy into a vacci“but on [Feb. 22], nation site in a we received the confirmation, “very short window of time” and by [Feb. 24], we had the was a challenge, Sheth said, for shots.” some, it was the most convenient When it seemed likely that option. the pharmacy would be able to “The importance of the comadminister inoculations last munity pharmacy is [we] can Sunday, Sheth and his staff really get to the needy people,” began collecting names of cus- he said. “Many people can’t tomers to be added to a waitlist. Others were directed to the pharContinued on page 4
By PeteR BelFioRe and AlySSA SeiDMAN
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Courtesy Bellmore-Merrick Central High School District
A New StuDeNt-FouNDeD Diverse Dialogues series kicked off at John F. Kennedy High School on Feb. 25 with an open forum on race and racism. Students and staff discussed their own experiences related to race, the larger community and advocating for themselves and others.
New club at Kennedy promotes diverse dialogues By ANDRew GARCiA agarcia@liherald.com
John F. Kennedy High School’s newest club, aptly named Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, aims to make the school community more inclusive by promoting open dialogue on issues of race and social justice. The club held its first forum on Feb. 25, during which students shared personal experiences of racial prejudice. “We were very involved
throughout Black History Month, and heard students [talking about] those experiences,” said club co-founder Desiree Rigaud, “and we saw that Asian-American hate crimes are on the rise — and in some cases, they’re being attacked — or we heard experiences from Latin-Americans. “This expression was only happening outside of the walls of our school,” Rigaud continued. “We wanted to make that change happen and
bring those discussions here.” “These are student-led discussions on how we can improve these issues,” noted co-founder Michelle Brown. Last week’s event, held in Kennedy’s library and virtually via Zoom, was the first installment of DEI’s Diverse Dialogues series, which will feature discussions on a variety of societal issues, including LGBTQ rights, anti-Semitism, sexism and gender equality. Continued on page 3
any people can’t stand in a line for three to four hours or get appointments at all.