p.41-43:
Create as many venues as needed for people to be vaccinated. The federal government — in partnership with state and local communities — will create as many venues for vaccination as needed in communities and settings that people trust. This includes, but is not limited to federally supported community vaccination centers, in places like stadiums and conference centers, bringing resources to state and locally operated vaccination sites in all 50 states and 14 territories, pharmacies and retail stores, federal facilities like VA hospitals, community health centers, rural health clinics, critical access hospitals, physician offices, health systems, and mobile and on-site occupational clinics. Establish new, federally supported community vaccination centers across the country. Knowing that not all states and jurisdictions may have the resources to scale vaccination at the pace this crisis demands, the National COVID-19 Response Team will utilize federal resources and emergency contracting authorities to launch new vaccination sites in support of state and local efforts 42|to best meet local needs. The Department of Defense (DOD) will bring its logistical expertise and staff to bear, with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) managing set-up and operations. These sites will mobilize thousands of clinical and non-clinical staff and contractors—including federal medics, Department of Agriculture (USDA) staff, Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) staff, and Public Health Service Commissioned Corps officers and DOD personnel—who will work hand-in-glove with the National Guard and state, territorial, Tribal, and local teams. These efforts will help us reach underserved communities and those that have been hit the hardest by this pandemic. By the end of February, there will be 100 federally-supported centers across the nation. Bolster support for state- and local-run community vaccination clinics. State and local public health departments will play a critical role in this vaccination effort — particularly in reaching the hardest-to-reach communities. The federal government will offer in-kind support and technical assistance for state-, local- and community-run vaccination clinics, including support for the construction and management of local sites, management of cold-chain storage and transportation, and procurement of personal protective equipment and ancillary vaccination supplies. The federal government will also provide capital assets, such as land and buildings, for state use in community vaccination efforts and assistance sourcing, procuring, stockpiling, and shipping supplies directly to sites. It will additionally provide clinical and non-clinical staff needed to support or staff community vaccination centers, including through the Army and Navy Medical Corps and work with state and local programs to support the Medical Reserve Corps. To support and advance state, local and community based efforts, HHS will release toolkits and guidance for operating and scaling different types of community vaccination centers—adaptable across various settings, from standard health clinics, to community-based sites like churches, to existing COVID-19 drive-through testing sites, to mobile clinics. Leverage storefronts, including retail locations, grocers and pharmacies. Millions of Americans turn to their local pharmacies every day for their medicines, flu shots, and much more. And nearly 90 percent of Americans live within five miles of a pharmacy, making these among the most accessible vaccination locations. The Administration will move quickly to jumpstart the effort to work directly with chain and independent pharmacies 43|across the country to get Americans vaccinated. The program will begin within two weeks of President Biden assuming office, and expand moving forward into neighborhoods across the country so that the public can make an appointment and get their shot at their local retail and pharmacy locations.Launch mobile vaccination clinics and work with rural providers.The Administration will deploy mobile clinics to meet communities where they are, and also to offer vaccines in the most hard-to-reach communities, working with local providers, including primary care providers, to ensure that they have the resources they need to help get vaccines to the communities they serve. Through HHS agencies including the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), CMS and CDC, and the Department of Veterans Affairs, the federal government will launch targeted programs to engage community health centers, rural health clinics and critical access hospitals to ensure that we can meet the needs of rural communities.Launch new partnership with Federally Qualified Health Centers nationwide. Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) serve more than 30 million patients each year—one in 11 people nationwide. Many are people of color and individuals struggling to make ends meet. Given the critical role that these providers play in their communities, the federal government, through HRSA and CDC, will launch a new program to ensure that FQHCs can directly access vaccine supply where needed. At the same time, the Administration will encourage jurisdictions to engage health centers closely in their overall jurisdictional plans. And to ensure that health centers have the resources they need to successfully launch vaccination programs, HRSA will launch a new program to provide guidance, technical assistance and other resources to prepare and engage these providers nationwide.
(we can get drive through food, why not vaccines? sounds as if they anticipate making it easy and free to get vaccinated.... hope this works because my local news has stories about elderly people who cannot sign up on internet sites- seriously, if you cannot see well or drive(!), why make this tough? Sounds like it should be easy.... hope it rolls out well.)
