St. Peter’s Health Partners (SPHP) administered more than 150 Covid-19 vaccinations during a pop-up clinic held February 3 and 4 at Kennedy Towers, a senior housing development in Troy.
The clinic was one of 35 community-based pop-up vaccination sites held across New York state, arranged in coordination with Governor Andrew M. Cuomo’s office. The effort is aimed at increasing vaccine accessibility to traditionally underserved communities who are highest risk of severe disease.
SPHP worked in tandem with the Troy Housing Authority to set up the vaccination clinic in just a matter of days.
“It was really an incredible effort. We received the call from the Governor’s office on January 28, asking us to help facilitate a site in Rensselaer County,” said Matthew Miles, M.D., who oversees SPHP’s COVID vaccine response. “Within days, our tremendous team — from logistics, pharmacy, patient care, security, and more – was able to stand up a site and bring the vaccine to those who need it most in our community.”
200 doses of the vaccine were made available to tenants 65 years of age and older, residing at Kennedy Towers, Kane Apartments, Conway Court, Peter M. Guenette Apartments for Veterans and Taylor Apartments. All eligible tenants who wanted to receive the vaccine were accommodated.
“I am just so proud of my colleagues at SPHP. This effort speaks to the heart of SPHP’s mission to serve as a compassionate transforming healing presence – to care for the most vulnerable in our communities,” said Elaina Heagerty, program management consultant at SPHP, who helped to coordinate the pop-up site. “By bringing this clinic to their residence, we were able to provide these seniors that accessibility that they may otherwise not have had. If we’re going to stop this pandemic, we need to make sure everyone, from all eligible ages and backgrounds, are able to receive a vaccine.”
The Governor’s office estimates that the 35 pop-up vaccination sites will have served over 25,000 people in just one week. More sites are expected to come online in the coming weeks. For more information on the clinics: https://www.governor.ny.gov/news/governor-cuomo-announces-35-community-based-pop-vaccination-sites-coming-online-week-provide
To view more photos from the two-day clinic, head to SPHP’s Facebook page.
