Beacon Christian Community Health Shows How It’s Done with its Successful Moderna COVID-19 Vaccination Program
Staten Island-based community healthcare leader administers 100% of vaccine allocation per most recent New York State and New York City guidelines.
Staten Island, New York – January 11, 2021 – Beacon Christian Community Health Center, Inc. announced that on Thursday, January 7, 2021, it had administered more than 100% of its allocation of the Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine inoculations in compliance with New York State’s Vaccinate New York Phase 1A eligibility requirements https://covid19vaccine.health.ny.gov/phased-distribution-vaccine#phase-1a and Governor Cuomo’s timeline directives updated during the period December 30, 2020, thru January 5, 2021. Beacon Health received its first allocation of the Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine on Monday, December 21, 2020, and successfully administered 10% of that week’s allocation on Wednesday, December 23, 2020.
Dr. Allan Perel, MD, Chief of Neurology, Richmond University Medical Center recently said, “Beacon Christian Community Health has been a godsend for my office. There has been so much ambiguity and questions regarding the vaccine and when we found out that Beacon Health was providing the vaccine for frontline healthcare workers, we were ecstatic. The idea that people in private practices weren’t able to get the vaccine at the hospitals, really put them at a unique disadvantage. Staff members and I at Alpha Neurology Medical Practice have shared just how wonderful Beacon Health as a whole, especially Drs. David and Janet Kim, treated us and really made a difficult situation easy for everyone involved”.
The challenges of COVID-19 coupled with stringent New York State oversight and the unknowns of brand-new, rigorously tested vaccines means it’s neither possible nor prudent to have people show up “en masse” and dole out vaccinations in an assembly line fashion. The space requirements of social distancing coupled with the time factor to allow for strict observation for potential allergic reactions can be a logistical dilemma. None the less, Beacon Christian Community Health, a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) with a keen understanding of government and pharmaceutical supply chains, began planning for being a COVID-19 vaccine administrator in September 2020. Prior to September 2020, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Robert Redfield urged state governors to remove barriers to building permits for distribution sites so that coronavirus vaccine distribution facilities could become fully operational by November 1, 2020, according to an August 27, 2020, CDC letter.
Recently, Beacon Health CEO Dr. David Kim stated, “In trying to cope with getting the maximum number of people immunized while still keeping everyone as safe as possible, we have taken the POD (point of distribution) concept of vaccination that we initiated so successfully with the H1N1 outbreak, as well as with flu vaccines and tetanus shots in the wake of Hurricane Sandy and applied it to COVID-19.” He added, “We prefer to act like the U.S. Marines, using unique tactics in establishing a beachhead, rather than waiting for the Army to show up and just follow the status quo.”
Dr. Janet Kim, Chief Medical Officer, Beacon Health, continued, “We took one of our two Staten Island facilities, configured and staffed it solely for COVID-19 testing and Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine inoculations. Our second Staten Island facility was configured and staffed exclusively for all other Non-COVID-19 and day-to-day community healthcare.”
Beacon Community Christian Health is pioneering a whole new approach to medicine, whether dealing with a pandemic or just providing outstanding health care to underserved communities. Since opening its doors in 2006, Beacon Health has delivered quality, affordable healthcare to thousands of patients with dignity, compassion and respect for each as an individual.
About Beacon Christian Community Health Center
Beacon Christian Community Health is a faith-based community health center which shares the love of Jesus by providing quality, affordable health and wellness care to Mariners Harbor and Staten Island residents. We care for the whole person and whole family addressing individual and family physical, emotional, and spiritual wellbeing.
For more information, please visit BeaconCCHC.com.
Media Contacts
Sheldon Wermes
sheldonw@beaconcchc.com
Markiya Lee
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