On May 11, President Biden announced additional efforts to get America vaccinated and meet his goal for 70% of the U.S. adult population to have one vaccine shot by July 4th.
The president plans to join a bipartisan group of the nation’s governors to discuss creative and innovative ways they are working to get people in their states vaccinated and announce additional private and federal resources to help their efforts.
Get America Vaccinated
President Biden highlight a new effort by the ride-sharing companies Lyft and Uber to provide free rides to anyone going to a vaccination site to get vaccinated. Also, he announced, that some of the nation’s largest community colleges will host vaccination sites for students, staff and local communities throughout May and June. Besides that, were highlighted immediately funding available through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for states to fund more on-the-ground efforts to promote vaccinations in their communities, including phone banking, door-to-door canvassing, and pop-up vaccination sites in workplaces and churches.
The following actions to help in the effort to administer at least one shot to 70% of the U.S. adult population:
Free Rides for Anyone to Get Vaccinated:
A new program from the ride-sharing companies Lyft and Uber, which will offer free rides to anyone going to a vaccination site to get vaccinated. As part of this historic commitment, Lyft and Uber will promote rides to and from tens of thousands of vaccination sites through their apps. People will be able to simply select a vaccination site near them, follow simple directions to redeem their ride, and then get a ride to take them to and from a nearby vaccination site free of charge. The feature will launch in the next two weeks and run until July 4.
Community Colleges Nationwide to Host Vaccine Sites:
The Administration will launch partnerships between federal retail pharmacy partners and high-enrollment community colleges to provide on-site clinics for students, staff, and local communities. These community colleges will work to get word out to students, staff, and local communities to make use of these clinics, especially for students who are on or nearby campus this summer. The program builds on the strong success of the federal pharmacy program in reaching local communities, including through over 6,000 mobile vaccination clinics across the program to date.
Additional Support for Grassroots, Community Efforts to Get People Vaccinated:
Funding is immediately available to state territorial, Tribal, and local governments for community outreach and engagement to connect people to vaccinations, including through engagement of community-based organizations and faith-based organizations. State, local and community leaders can use FEMA assistance to fund the cost of in-person, phone, and online community engagement – including personnel and other costs.
Walgreens Partners with Biden Administration to Get America Vaccinated
Walgreens announced that they already worked with more than 15 universities, as part of efforts to expand access and get more populations vaccinated.
“Walgreens is proud to partner with the Biden administration to host COVID-19 vaccination clinics for community college students, faculty and staff, throughout May and June. This is an important program that can help get more people vaccinated as we prepare for a safer return to school this fall,” – the company comment
Walgreens also, announced that as vaccine approvals continue to allow for younger children to get their vaccine, including the 12-15-year-old age group, Walgreens reached out to more than 1,000 school districts, where company have previously conducted flu clinics or immunized educators earlier this spring, offering to support in-store and on-site vaccination clinics.
