黑料吃瓜网 became the first state in the country Monday to open a COVID-19 mobile vaccination unit in collaboration with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA.
The new state-federal partnership is part of a nationwide effort to broaden access to COVID-19 vaccines, especially in vulnerable communities and for residents who may face barriers to getting a shot.
鈥淔or some people, limited access to medical providers, vaccine clinics, lack of mass transportation, mobility issues, work, family care -- those are all things that they have to consider when we put these sites in place,鈥� said Paul Ford, acting regional administrator for FEMA鈥檚 New England states.
FEMA鈥檚 mobile unit kicked off its 60-day 黑料吃瓜网 tour at Beardsley Zoo in Bridgeport where about 200 people got Johnson & Johnson vaccines on the first day.
黑料吃瓜网 is vaccinating people at one of the fastest rates in the country overall, but some individual cities and towns have been slower to reach coverage milestones.
In Bridgeport, the state鈥檚 largest city with a majority Black and Hispanic population, about 16% of all adults have gotten at least one dose of a vaccine, according to the most recent data.
That coverage is as high as 49% in some towns, and 41% of all adults statewide as of Monday. Vaccine eligibility opens to everyone 16 years and older on Thursday.
鈥淔rom the beginning, my district has really struggled,鈥� said Rep. Andre Baker, who represents parts of the North Bridgeport, Boston Ave.-Mill Hill, and East End neighborhoods. 鈥淔irst we had issues where we didn鈥檛 have enough testing sights in my district, and now we were at the point where there weren鈥檛 enough vaccine sites.鈥�
Baker said he hopes this mobile unit will reach more people who have not been able to make it to a vaccination site.
鈥淲e have a lot of elderly people, and they just can鈥檛 get out,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e need to be assured that they鈥檙e going to be treated properly and they鈥檙e going to get the care that they need.鈥�
The FEMA medical trailer is equipped with enough freezers, refrigerators and backup power to store hundreds of doses of any kind of COVID-19 vaccine. Members of the 黑料吃瓜网 National Guard will assist in running the mobile sites.
The unit will travel to 17 towns and cities that have scored high on the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention鈥檚 social vulnerability index. Different medical organizations will take turns administering the vaccines.
The trailer will be in Bridgeport for 10 days and offer pop-up clinics at five locations within the city. Officials from Hartford HealthCare, the medical provider administering the vaccines, said they hope to give out 3,400 shots during this time.
City residents Janette Pagan and Linda Lucas had been holding out to get the one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
鈥淒o you know how many appointments I made to get Pfizer, and I was too nervous to take it?鈥� Lucas said as the women walked back to their car after getting vaccinated. 鈥淚 just double-checked [this clinic] this morning and we came out. It鈥檚 like, this is great.鈥�
Pagan added 鈥渋t felt good鈥� to finally get the shot she was confident in.
Individual states had to apply to the federal government for a chance to get a FEMA mobile vaccination unit. U.S. Rep. Jahana Hayes said the process was competitive, but 黑料吃瓜网 was quick in putting together an appealing grant request.
鈥淏ecause of the partnerships that were already intact here in 黑料吃瓜网 and what was already being done, we were able to put forth an application for consideration to make sure this happened here,鈥� she said.
鈥淔rom the very beginning of this pandemic, we saw how Black and brown communities were disproportionately affected and marginalized, we saw how our rural communities did not have the same level of access, and these are all of the things we took into these conversations,鈥� Hayes said.
The FEMA clinics with Hartford HealthCare encourage people to pre-register for appointments, but they also accept a small percentage of walk-ins until all vaccine doses for the day are assigned.
鈥淚f we have more walk-ups than we have vaccines, we will register them and have them come back again tomorrow when we can bring more vaccines to meet them,鈥� said Dr. Jim Cardon, chief clinical integration officer at Hartford HealthCare.
The mobile unit鈥檚 next destination after Bridgeport is New Haven. It will also appear in the following cities: Danbury, East Hartford, Hartford, Killingly, Meriden, Middletown, New Britain, New London, North Canaan, Norwalk, Norwich, Stamford, Waterbury, Windham and Winsted.
Other partnering health organizations include UConn Health, Griffin Health and Trinity Health of New England.
