Brianna Lugo is a 14-year-old girl.
Ready for the new school year and returning in person to the classrooms, this Friday she received the first dose of the Pfizer vaccine against COVID-19, in her own home.
– “I can go to school, I can be closer to my family and my friends and I can go places that if they don’t let you in without the vaccine, now they let me in,” says Brianna.
Brianna was visited by a team from the NYC Test & Trace home vaccination program, a collaboration of the NYC Health and Hospitals chain of hospitals, the Department of Health, and Medrite. Up to that point, she was the only one in her household who had not been vaccinated. His parents and his brother Brian had already done it.
– “Very excellent not having to go to another place and having them come here directly is a good option,” says Sandra Lugo, Brianna’s mother.
She is one of more than 5,000 people in the five counties who have been vaccinated at home through this service that began in early May. The program is free, and every New Yorker is eligible to be vaccinated at home regardless of immigration status. You just have to be over 12 years old and present an ID. They accept IDNYC and even an expired passport.
And 30 medical teams like this one of three people each go out seven days a week from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. and vaccinate 150 to 200 people.
They do not say that the program has been very well received by the Hispanic community in New York.
Dr. Jonathan Jiménez, medical director of the city’s Testing and Tracking Corps, states:
– “We know that in New York City, the Latino community is often newcomers, has low income, and that means that there are barriers to access transportation, to get to the vaccination sites, the typical vaccination centers, and also for people it is more comfortable to get vaccinated at home instead of going to a big center that sometimes, well …, it can intimidate people “.
To request an appointment visit the website nyc.gov/homevaccine or call 877-829-4692 there is assistance in Spanish.
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