More than 500 New York City doctors in private practice are now offering the COVID-19 vaccine because officials say they want to move the jabs to “places and places that patients already trust.”
The city says it is reaching 200 more physicians who enrolled in the vaccination delivery program, but never requested a supply of shots.
In December, even before the first COVID vaccine became available in New York, the city asked doctors and pharmacies to register to deliver the shots.
The Department of Health said 1,688 “providers” signed on, representing 2,582 vaccination locations.
Health Commissioner Dave Chokshi said on Thursday, “I am pleased to state that as of this week, the Department of Health has allocated COVID 19 vaccines to all eligible community providers who have requested an order.” “So, talk to your doctor about getting your child or yourself vaccinated.”
But for some doctors, the program’s logistics and requirements to purchase specialized equipment, such as deep freezers to hold Pfizer shots, proved to be a nightmare.
“I didn’t even order it because it was so crazy,” said Chinatown pediatrician Dr. Cheryl Wu, noting that the process was “bureaucratic at its finest”.
And, she said, the city did little to encourage doctors like her to give the vaccine during the winter months, when patients were struggling to get it.
Federal regulations put the minimum order of the modern vaccine at 100 doses and, under the government’s executive order of Andrew Cuomo, Wu would have to deliver all the jabs within seven days or face potential civil penalties of up to $ 100,000.
Wu said it would be “ridiculous” for a small practice like her.
“This policy was implemented because some providers were slow to administer the vaccine to the population while supplies were lacking,” said Cuomo spokesman Rich Azzopardi.
When Cuomo rescinded the requirement last month, Wu placed his first order for the vaccine and began vaccinating patients 18 and older on Friday.
City Councilor Mark Levine, chairman of the health committee, said more doctors, especially pediatricians, needed to board the ship to take shots. The Pfizer shot was approved for those 12 and up on Wednesday.
“There are New Yorkers who are willing to receive the vaccine, but they need a reliable source of information to answer their questions and there is no one better than their neighborhood physician,” Levine said. “The era of mass vaccination centers should come to an end and we should deploy those resources in places like neighborhood physicians.”
The Health Department on Thursday announced a “Vaccine Confidence” campaign to talk to patients about vaccinating or giving shots to more doctors in the areas of the Bronx and Brooklyn.
Approximately 7.4 million doses of the vaccine have been given in New York City, although the pace has slowed in recent weeks.
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