Key Takeaways

Community Health Centers in areas of the country that have medically underserved or vulnerable populations are set to receive more vaccines against COVID-19. These doses will be in addition to supplies of vaccine that centers may already be receiving from states, tribes, or territories.

The move is part of the Biden Administration’s push to increase availability of and access to COVID-19 vaccines. The administration is also providing more vaccines to states, tribes, and territories with the overall goal of administering 100 million shots in its first 100 days.

This vaccine program is starting small, but will then increase slowly from this first phase as more supplies of vaccine become available. This initial phase will include at least one Community Health Center in each state and eventually will expand to 250 centers around the country.

Biden’s COVID-19 Vaccine Plan Expands Priority Groups and Vaccination Sites

Open Door Family Medical Centers in the Hudson Valley of New York is one of the first centers in the program, according toLindsay Farrell, the organization’s chief executive officer and president. “We are ecstatic,” she tells Verywell.

Until now, Open Door has been getting small amounts of vaccine from New York State, and has limited doses to healthcare workers, who are in the first tier of those eligible to receive a shot. Farrell does not yet know how many doses of vaccine Open Door’s centers will get.

Open Door operates 14 medical centers and a mobile unit. It treats about 60,000 patients a year, many of whom do not speak English but who frequently have jobs as essential workers, Farrell says.

“This program is part of a broader effort to ensure all communities are being reached in the national push to get people vaccinated,” reads astatementfrom the White House. “Community Vaccination Centers in underserved areas, theretail pharmacy program, mobile clinics, and efforts to increase vaccine confidence are also key tools to help states and communities vaccinate their most vulnerable populations.”

What Are Community Health Centers?

Over 91% of patients at these centers are individuals or families who are living at or below 200% of the federal poverty guidelines, of whom nearly 63% are racial or ethnic minorities. These centers play a vital role in supporting local community response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

What This Means For YouAdditional supplies of COVID-19 vaccines will be available at Community Health Centers around the country within the next several weeks, which should aid in efforts to more fairly distributed the doses.

What This Means For You

Additional supplies of COVID-19 vaccines will be available at Community Health Centers around the country within the next several weeks, which should aid in efforts to more fairly distributed the doses.

Vaccine Availability Is Rising

The Biden Administration has increased the weekly vaccine supply to states, tribes, and territories to 11 million doses nationally, which is a 5% rise over the previous week. This is a 28% increase since President Joe Biden took office on Jan. 20, according to the White House.

COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution Tracker

The administration is continuing to work with vaccines manufacturers in their efforts to increase the supply, and says it is committed to maintaining this supply level for the next several weeks. It is also making a commitment to ensuring that the distribution of the vaccines is equitable.

The number of cases of COVID-19 in the United States has now surpassed 27 million cases, according to the CDC.The death toll is more than 473,500.

The information in this article is current as of the date listed, which means newer information may be available when you read this. For the most recent updates on COVID-19, visit ourcoronavirus news page.

3 SourcesVerywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Health Resources and Services Administration.Federally Qualified Health Centers.Health Resources and Services Administration.Ensuring equity in Covid-19 vaccine distribution.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Covid data tracker.

3 Sources

Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Health Resources and Services Administration.Federally Qualified Health Centers.Health Resources and Services Administration.Ensuring equity in Covid-19 vaccine distribution.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Covid data tracker.

Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

Health Resources and Services Administration.Federally Qualified Health Centers.Health Resources and Services Administration.Ensuring equity in Covid-19 vaccine distribution.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Covid data tracker.

Health Resources and Services Administration.Federally Qualified Health Centers.

Health Resources and Services Administration.Ensuring equity in Covid-19 vaccine distribution.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Covid data tracker.

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