Stanley M. Bergman, chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Henry Schein, wrote a letter to the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis, urging federal officials to include primary care physicians and other office-based practitioners including dentists in the effort to expand COVID-19 vaccination nationwide.
“More effectively activating the vast network of physicians and dentists in the US to join the fight to vaccinate Americans is critical at this moment in the country’s vaccination efforts,” Bergman said.
“Not only are [these healthcare professionals] capable of helping individuals overcome hesitancy, but their offices span zip codes across the US in ways that other vaccine distribution systems do not,” he said.
From inner cities and suburbs to rural areas and farmland, doctors are a part of almost every community. Their administration of the annual flu shot demonstrates that doctors have the infrastructure to deliver the COVID-19 shot, especially as public health authorities increasingly suggest a long-term need for booster shots of the COVID-19 vaccine,” Bergman said.
“We urge the Administration and HHS to consider providing office-based practitioners, regardless of in which state they practice, meaningful access to the vaccine as part of our vaccine rollout,” he said.
The letter was submitted as a statement for the record in conjunction with the Select Subcommittee’s hearing featuring testimony from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Rochelle P. Walensky, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, and Chief Science Officer for COVID Response Dr. David Kessler.
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