The New York Times
This pharmacist had vaccines to spare. So he took the road.
NEW YORK – In a city trying to vaccinate people against COVID-19 as quickly as possible, Ambar Keluskar faced a problem this month that seems to challenge logic: Keluskar, a pharmacist in Brooklyn, struggled to find people to take the 200 doses he had on hand. “They were just sitting in the freezer,” he said. The state rules restricted those who could shoot at independent pharmacies like him for certain older residents, and it seems that fewer and fewer people are planning appointments. The problem was even worse because its pharmacy, Rossi Pharmacy, attracts many customers from Eastern New York, a community hit hard by the pandemic and where the vaccination rate lags behind in other parts of New York. Subscribe to The Morning Newsletter of the New York Times Keluskar’s pharmacy has spent hundreds of dollars on Facebook ads to let people know he has available doses. He asked community leaders to spread the word. Then he decides to try another way to reach people who might otherwise be overlooked: instead of waiting for them to come to the pharmacy, he takes his doses to them. The experience of Keluskar reflects the many ways in which an unorganized explosion of vaccine has forced officials and distributors to continually review their approaches while confronting confusing realities on the ground. Vaccine providers and prospective recipients are faced with bureaucratic rules for admissibility, a changing understanding of the virus and a reporting system that can be extremely complicated. Despite officials’ insistence on fairness, vaccinations have slowed to reach many communities where the virus has taken the highest toll, and where people may not have the time or means to sign up for appointments easily. In response to these problems, volunteers and community groups have become creative by setting up websites that improve the official offering, offering pop-up clinics at churches, and helping suitable neighbors explore the confusing landscape. Among the people who wanted to fill the gap was Keluskar, who earlier this month, following a tip from a senator’s office, vaccinated nearly 50 people at a senior affordable housing complex near Brooklyn, who were at home or struggling to make appointments elsewhere. find. On Saturday, he vaccinated more than 150 people at Ingersoll Houses, a public housing complex in Fort Greene. He said he would ask for a larger allocation of doses to do more pop-up events in communities in need. “The patients loved it,” he said. “They need to be vaccinated locally.” Keluskar said he hopes his method can inspire other city officials or pharmacists to try new ways of doing outreach. While the rate of vaccinations has increased recently in New York and across the country, virus variants are frightening, and officials believe there are still months to go before returning to normalcy and safety. Older people in lower-income communities with poor internet access found it particularly difficult to sign up for vaccinations, with appointments by people with a better connection or more time to look for new slots. Neighborhood pharmacies were an important part of the vaccination, a spokesman for the city’s health department said. In many cases, they have built up unique levels of trust with residents in their communities. And while Keluskar says they receive fees from insurers to administer doses – between $ 13 and $ 28 per shot – many pharmacies are facing the vaccination. Keluskar said he worked at a loss after investing about $ 15,000 in equipment, such as a freezer and portable refrigerator, and that he and his staff worked many unpaid hours. Keluskar, who became the supervisor for Rossi Pharmacy about five years ago, began vaccinations in January. He started with 100 doses per week and asked the government to double the number of doses sent to his pharmacy as the need for vaccinations increased. At the end of February, he notes that the number of registrations is declining. In one week, the pharmacy burned through its entire waiting list, he said. By the first week of March, Keluskar was struggling to be eligible for vaccination. The state requires suppliers to administer all their doses within seven days or notify the state, and Keluskar is concerned that officials are taking back his unused doses and no longer sending them. Keluskar said he thinks there are several reasons for the decline in his pharmacy, including the opening of a mass vaccination center in the area. Although the suitability expanded last week, only teachers, childcare staff and people aged 60 and over can be vaccinated at pharmacies. Government Andrew Cuomo said pharmacies do not have the ability to verify the identity and occupation of people in other qualifying groups, such as essential workers or younger people with pre-existing health conditions. Keluskar said he felt the pool of people who both met the state’s requirements and could travel to his pharmacy a few blocks from East New York station was exhausted. While looking for other options, Keluskar said an employee in the office of state senator Jabari Brisport connected him to the Stonewall House, an affordable housing complex for LGBTQ seniors in Brooklyn. George Berry, 66, who lives in the Stonewall home and helped arrange the vaccinations there, said a majority of residents were not vaccinated. Many went home, he said. Emma DeJesus, also a resident of Stonewall, said she had been trying unsuccessfully for weeks to get a vaccination before getting a chance during Keluskar’s event. “I can not handle the phone,” she said. “I’m 78. Everything is on the computer now and I do not have a computer.” After receiving her second dose, DeJesus looks forward to visiting her nieces and nephews in the Bronx and seeing her sister, who lives in the Flatbush area of Brooklyn. After the first meeting, Keluskar said two city councilors, whom he did not want to identify, contacted him about similar events. He said he had administered nearly 2,000 doses so far, and that he could vaccinate even more people if the state lifted restrictions on pharmacies. “In the meantime,” Keluskar said, “we must do everything in our power to stay in the program, and to keep people in it.” This article originally appeared in The New York Times. © 2021 The New York Times Company