STANDING WITH WHITE HOUSE VAX COORDINATOR, SCHUMER ANNOUNCES: NY’S ‘VACCINE SUPERCHARGE’ IS UNDERWAY; MAJOR INCREASE STARTS NOW, NY WILL GET 1.65 MILLION VACCINES—A WEEK—INTO APRIL, A 33% INCREASE FROM TODAY; PLUS, 5,000 MORE PUBLIC HEALTH WORKERS FUNDED TO HELP DELIVER & DIRECT VAX TO BEAT BACK COVID
Schumer, Alongside Nation’s Vax Coordinator Jeff Zients, At Fed Vax Site In NYC, Announces New York Will Receive A Total of 1.65 Million Vaccines Per Week Into April: A 33% Increase From Today & 3.5 Times The Number Since President Biden Took Office
Schumer & Zients Highlight Roughly $500 Million In DIRECT Fed Support For New York Vaccine Sites, Including New Community Vaccination Centers & Hundreds of Community Health Center Sites Across The State; Hundreds-Of-Millions More From ARP Coming Imminently To NY CHCs To Fight COVID & Address Health Disparities in Underserved & Minority Communities
Schumer: The Vaccine Supercharge Is Here With More Shots & Massive Influx Of Fed Funds To NY From Just-Passed Relief Bill
Standing with President Biden’s COVID Vaccine Coordinator, Jeff Zients, along with others, U.S. Senator Charles Schumer announced that New York City’s and New York State’s COVID vaccine ‘supercharge’ is officially underway via new federal vaccine sites, which will receive new vaccines on top of NYS’s current allocation. Schumer announced that a massive increase in New York’s vaccines have begun flowing, which will mean NY will get 1.65 million vaccines—a week— by the end of April, a 33% on-average increase from today, with the increase starting now.
“The vaccine supercharge led by President Biden and Coordinator Zients is now underway across New York with a huge influx of COVID vaccines from the federal government that has begun—and will continue—to arrive into April, along with a massive expansion of federally-funded vaccine sites that will utilize New York’s existing Community Health Centers (CHCs)—like Ryan Health here—to help get them into arms,” said U.S. Senator Charles Schumer.
Schumer explained, in total and on-average, New York will receive 1.65 million vaccines a week into April. This marks a 33% increase from right now and 3.5 times the number since President Biden took office.
“President Biden came into office with a huge challenge, made harder by the lack of preparation and planning that preceded him and his administration. Cleaning up that mess meant using every lever of the federal government to play critical catch-up, and he got it done, along with Jeff Zients, and others, who are saving lives and moving us faster and faster toward the light at the end of a dark COVID tunnel. Of course, the democratic Congress and Senate has helped, too.” Schumer added.
Schumer and Coordinator Zients also announced that as part of New York’s vaccine ‘supercharge,’ 5,000 more public health workers for New York have been funded –thanks to the recently-passed, Schumer-led, and President Biden-signed—American Rescue Plan (ARP). Senator Schumer and Coordinator Zients highlighted roughly $500M in direct federal funds allocated just to NY for these new vaccine sites and hundreds-of-millions to Community Health Centers, like Ryan Health on 97th Street, that will help deliver and direct the vaccine ‘supercharge’ to beat back COVID.
“I have said it before, and I will say it again: the people of New York have had a tough, tough year amid the pandemic but the light at the end of that tunnel I talked about has always been centered on access to a free vaccine for all New Yorkers, and lots of New Yorkers want a vaccine,” said U.S. Senator Charles Schumer. “With the supercharge underway, more vaccines and better access to vaccine sites are here and more shots into more arms are afoot.”
The CHC sites are federally-funded and organized by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of an effort to expand the CHC vaccine program, which works to increase vaccine availability and access in underserved and minority communities where access to vaccines has been a major challenge.
“What has really been a game changer for us was last month when Ryan Health became a designated site to receive vaccine directly from the federal agency, HRSA. It significantly increased our supply of vaccine and gives us a steady, reliable source that we can count on. This has allowed us to vaccinate members of our communities who have been hardest hit by the coronavirus,” said Brian McIndoe, President and CEO of Ryan Health.
“I’ll repeat this point, too: one of the biggest issues with getting people vaccinated has been access,” added Schumer. “Especially in our underserved and disadvantaged communities. We’ve heard numerous stories of people having to travel way too far to get a vaccine, hampering our ability to recover from the pandemic and return to ‘normal.’ With this announcement of more vaccines and the sites opening up, New York is positioned to get more shots in arms, especially in areas where COVID has hit the hardest.”
The sweeping federal effort and our local sites will be funded by a collective $50 billion that Schumer secured for vaccine distribution, procurement and administration in the December relief bill and the just-passed American Rescue Plan. All the CHC sites are eligible to become vaccine administration sites, but must elect to participate in the program and receive the vaccines from New York’s Community Health Center parent organizations, who will determine which sites will get vaccines.
The latest federal list on vaccine sites in New York appears below. Each of these CHCs have multiple locations across the state:
https://www.hrsa.gov/coronavirus/health-center-program/participants/ny
The vaccines these health centers receive will be sent directly from the federal government to the CHCs and be in addition to the weekly vaccine allocation sent to New York State.
One-in-nine New Yorkers receive care at a Community Health Center, which guarantee access to care for the most vulnerable New Yorkers. Of those New Yorkers that receive care at CHCs, 89% are low income and 71% are people of color, making this initiative the largest effort to date to address the problem of slow vaccine distribution in minority communities. Black New Yorkers have received 8% of vaccines thus far, despite having 23% of deaths and making up 16% of the total population, Hispanic New Yorkers have received 9% of vaccines, despite having 23% of deaths and making up 19% of the total population.
New York’s new vaccine sites will be part of approximately 700 CHC parent organizations and 4000 individual CHC sites nationally that are eligible to become vaccine administration sites. New York’s 70-plus Community Health Centers (CHCs). CHCs provide care for 1-in-9 New Yorkers at more than 800 locations across the state. CHCs are a “one-stop shop” for health care, providing high quality primary and preventive care and support services to all New Yorkers, regardless of their immigration status, insurance coverage, or ability to pay. Each CHC has a Board of Directors comprised primarily of people who live in the communities they serve, according to the Community Heath Care Association of New York.
“Simply put, more access and more shots means a quicker recovery, and that’s what we want,” Schumer concluded.
