When ABC News asked major chain pharmacies about their plans to help ensure underserved communities had equal access to the vaccine, Walgreens pointed to a pilot program with Uber rolling out in coming months, which will offer free or discounted rides for vaccinations in cities like Chicago, Atlanta, Houston and El Paso.
CVS’s partnerships with Lyft and nonprofit organizations like the YMCA will similarly offer free or discounted rides.
President Joe Biden has described equity in vaccine distribution as the “No. 1” priority for his administration. He has emphasized that millions of doses have been directed to community health centers specifically to target vulnerable populations, and boasted the federal government’s partnership with more than 6,700 pharmacies across the country, saying “almost everyone” lives within the reach of a pharmacy. He also committed to providing mobile units to go into neighborhoods that are hard to get to.
In Chicago, at least a third of the population — or nearly 1 million people — lives in a pharmacy desert, or an area with less than one pharmacy per 10,000 residents, according to Dima Mazen Qato, an associate professor at the University of Southern California School of Pharmacy. Most of those pharmacy deserts are in Black and brown communities.
While there are 254 pharmacies on the city’s wealthier, slightly less populated North Side, for example, the poorer South Side only has 141, according to pharmacy location data.
President Joe Biden has described equity in vaccine distribution as the “No. 1” priority for his administration. He has emphasized that millions of doses have been directed to community health centers specifically to target vulnerable populations, and boasted the federal government’s partnership with more than 6,700 pharmacies across the country, saying “almost everyone” lives within the reach of a pharmacy. He also committed to providing mobile units to go into neighborhoods that are hard to get to.
But partnering with pharmacies isn’t enough to ensure equal access to vaccines, experts say.
“While pharmacies represent a critical resource in communities for preventative care services including vaccines, their distribution is based on economic factors rather than population representativeness,” said Dr. John Brownstein, an epidemiologist at Boston Children’s Hospital and ABC News contributor.
“In order to ensure equitable distribution of vaccines, the rollout needs to ensure that geographic accessibility is not a barrier to access especially for those who would benefit the most,” Brownstein said.
Please click the link below to read full article. But, to also see if you can help. It’s going to take the ENTIRE COUNTRY to make this happen. Otherwise, We will not get past this.
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