March 2021 | Ann M. Nguyen| The Value of Primary Care Doctors in an Equitable Vaccine Rollout
Dr. Nguyen, a primary care physician in Orange County, California, received a phone call Wednesday morning from his medical group. “Would you be interested in giving out the COVID-19 vaccine?”
The call was unexpected but welcomed. He hadn’t heard that primary care doctors were being enlisted to administer the vaccine. In fact, news across the country indicated unrest among the primary care community feeling left out of the vaccine rollout. However, perhaps this was a sign that things were changing that would bring primary care doctors to the forefront of the battle against the virus. On February 9, 2021, the Biden administration announced that community health centers could obtain and administer COVID-19 vaccines. Toolkits were also being developed to support and anticipate vaccine rollouts in primary care settings.