BUFFALO, N.Y. — The Biden Administration has announced a new avenue in getting more Americans vaccinated – through Community Health Centers.
And within days, more people will be able to get vaccinated through major pharmacies.
The state, county health departments, hospitals and pharmacies are getting the COVID-19 vaccine into arms. Soon, community health centers will as well.
"Starting next week, we will begin a new program with federally-qualified health centers, or as many people know them community health centers, community health centers provide primary care services to underserved areas," said COVID-19 response coordinator Jeff Zients.
The federal government says it’ll ship doses of vaccine directly to 250 community health centers, across the country, to make the vaccine more equitable -- vaccinating half a million people.
"This includes people who are experiencing homelessness, agricultural and migrant workers, residents of public housing and those with limited English proficiency," said COVID-19 Health Equity Task Force Chair Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith.
In a statement, Dr. LaVonne Ansari, the chief executive officer of Community Health Center of Buffalo, Inc. says: "We have been in contact with Congressman [Brian] Higgins in support of community health centers having a vaccine program. We are preparing and are ready to move forward once there is an increase in vaccine supply conducive to community health center logistical capabilities."
This as, major pharmacies such as CVS, Walgreens and Rite Aid plan to do more vaccinations later this week.
The vaccination start date for CVS has been moved from Thursday to Friday, with appointments be made available online on Thursday.
We’re not sure how many appointments the pharmacies will make available.
People interested in getting the vaccine, we know that’s a lot of people, are recommended to keep checking online on pharmacy websites, county websites and the state’s to get an appointment.
Governor Andrew Cuomo, Tuesday also provided new information on expanded vaccine availability. He says the state is in the process of reallocating doses from unused nursing homes into the general state allocation.
"The reallocation from the long-term healthcare program could be consequential that could be in the tens of thousands of doses so we’re working on that," Cuomo said.
