In August, the federal government attempted to restrict COVID-19 vaccine access by requiring prescriptions for some groups of people to get the vaccine.
However, in September, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul passed an emergency order bypassing this restriction. Now Erie County is holding clinics to make access even easier.
BTPM NPR's Emyle Watkins speaks with Erie County Health Commissioner Dr. Gale Burstein about vaccine access in New York and managing the disinformation that exists about the vaccine.
TRANSCRIPT
This is a rush transcript created by a contractor and may be updated over time to be more accurate.
Emyle Watkins: Hi, I am Emyle Watkins and this is The Disabilities Beat. Recently I caught up with Dr. Gale Burstein, Erie County's health commissioner, as she led a COVID-19 vaccine clinic in Buffalo. In August, the federal government attempted to restrict COVID-19 vaccine access by requiring prescriptions for some groups of people to get the vaccine. However, in September, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul passed an emergency order bypassing this restriction. Now Erie County is holding clinics to make access even easier. I spoke with Dr. Burstein to learn more about vaccine access in New York and managing the disinformation that exists about the vaccine.
Dr. Gale Burstein: In New York State, anybody six months of age and older can get a COVID-19 vaccine. So there are different places to be able to access a vaccine. So in New York State, people that are three years of age and up can get a vaccine at the pharmacy. And for people that are between the age of six months old and three years of age, they can't go to a pharmacy because pharmacists aren't licensed to give vaccines for people that young. So that's why we have our clinics open. And then also people can take their children to their health care provider to get a COVID-19 vaccine. Recently, the CDC made COVID-19 vaccine available through the Vaccine for Children program. So anybody who is between the age of six months and 19 years who is uninsured or underinsured, who has government insurance, is able to get that COVID-19 vaccine covered through the Vaccine for Children program.
Emyle Watkins: And what about uninsured adults? Is there any way for them to access it?
Dr. Gale Burstein: Through our COVID-19 vaccine clinics at the Erie County Department of Health.
Emyle Watkins: And I've noticed that Erie County has been holding quite a few of these, and some of them have been filling up quite quickly. Can you talk a little bit about that?
Dr. Gale Burstein: Yeah, well, I think people are really interested in getting COVID-19 vaccines. Again, only recently the CDC made COVID-19 vaccine available for the VFC program. So until that time, children between the ages of six months and three years didn't really have another place to go to get a COVID-19 vaccine. So we're really happy that we can be part of the solution for people who want to get vaccinated.
Emyle Watkins: With all these federal changes to vaccines, how has that impacted your role as a county health commissioner?
Dr. Gale Burstein: Well, I'm a pediatrician and I think that professional medical organizations like the American Academy of Pediatrics are steadfast, and we're developing science-based vaccine recommendations and also putting out strong messaging encouraging people to listen to science and not rhetoric. And the way that we've changed what we're doing here in the Erie County Health Department is we're holding COVID-19 vaccine clinics to make sure that everybody who wants to get immunized can. We're also putting out messaging that is consistent with the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the American Medical Association to really make sure that people understand that we need to listen to science and not misinformation.
When you talk about all the misinformation and mixed messaging out there, I think people have to be really careful about what they should listen to and what they can disregard. So if you hear something new come out, regardless of who it's from, I think you have to go and listen to the science. So a good place to look for scientific evidence about vaccines is the American Academy of Pediatrics website. Again, there are a lot of pediatric scientists that work on vaccine research and development and are really scientific experts in this area.
So again, don't believe everything you hear. If you hear something on social media or from a friend, unless they're your physician or a scientist, you really have to fact-check. Your home health care provider, your doctor or your doctor's office, they also have really good information about vaccines. So that's another good source. So remember, consider your source. Whenever you hear new information about vaccines or anything in medicine, you want to make sure that we follow the science and not just some type of random rumor that could really provide some terrible misinformation and encourage you to do the wrong thing that can lead to severe illness or complications.
Emyle Watkins: You can listen to The Disabilities Beat segment on demand, view a transcript and plain-language description for every episode on our website at btpm.org. I'm Emyle Watkins. Thanks for listening.
