Health

Insurers launch pilot program aimed at getting 2 million American seniors vaccinated


Resident wait to receive a Pfizer-BioNtech Covid-19 vaccine at The Palace, an independent living community for seniors, at Coral Gables in Miami, Florida, United States on January 12, 2021.

Eva Marie Uzcategui Trinkl | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images

More than a dozen health insurers are launching a pilot program aimed at getting 2 million American seniors vaccinated as quickly as possible, President Joe Biden‘s senior advisor on the Covid-19 pandemic announced Wednesday.

The pilot program – called Vaccine Community Connecters – is designed to educate seniors on the vaccines, help schedule appointments for shots and arrange transportation, advisor Andy Slavitt told reporters during a White House news briefing.

Insurers will also talk about “vaccine efficacy, safety and the value of vaccination,” said Slavitt, who also worked in the Obama administration, adding insurers may deploy mobile vans into communities most in need.

The announcement comes as the Biden administration works to ramp up the supply of Covid-19 vaccines and get the majority of Americans as quickly as possible. Roughly 51.8 million out of some 331 million Americans have received at least their first dose of Covid vaccine, according to data compiled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And 26.2 million of those people have already gotten their second shot, representing about 10% of the total adult U.S. population, according to the CDC.

The risk for severe illness with Covid-19 increases with age, with older adults at the highest risk, according to the CDC.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.



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