SOMOS Community Care Becomes First Family Physician In NY To Receive Direct-To-Clinic Vaccine Supply

This week, SOMOS Community Care – NYC’s leading physician-led network of community doctors began vaccinating patients in their offices,

becoming the first family physicians in New York to receive direct vaccine shipments and vaccinate patients in the comfort of their local neighborhood doctor’s offices.

Starting Monday, doctors in 40 SOMOS community clinics were equipped with doses of the Moderna vaccine, ramping up to 100 clinics in New York’s hardest-hit communities by the end of the week.

This marks a new chapter for the 2,500 Latino, Asian, and Black doctors of SOMOS who have been on the pandemic’s frontlines since last March, when they sounded the alarm that COVID-19 was here in New York and that the low income, immigrant communities of color they serve and of which they themselves are a part would be disproportionately devastated.

This marks a new chapter for the 2,500 Latino, Asian, and Black doctors of SOMOS who have been on the pandemic’s frontlines since last March, when they sounded the alarm that COVID-19 was here in New York and that the low income, immigrant communities of color they serve and of which they themselves are a part would be disproportionately devastated.

Since then, the network has collaborated with elected officials from the city, state, and federal government to ensure equity on behalf of the underserved populations who too often fall through the cracks of traditional healthcare systems.

To date, SOMOS has operated over 70 trilingual testing sites nationwide and vaccinated seniors, municipal workers, healthcare workers, and vulnerable communities of color across 50 vaccine sites in local landmarks like Yankee Stadium, churches, schools, and public housing…

To date, SOMOS has operated over 70 trilingual testing sites nationwide and vaccinated seniors, municipal workers, healthcare workers, and vulnerable communities of color across 50 vaccine sites in local landmarks like Yankee Stadium, churches, schools, and public housing – but Governor Cuomo’s decision to allocate doses directly to the SOMOS physicians who have served local families for generations offers New York a solution to a stark racial disparity resulting from mistrust, hesitancy, and barriers to access.

“Finally, I can truly tell my community – and all the low-income, immigrant communities of color that have borne the brunt of the battle against COVID-19: hope is here. We, your family doctors, the ones who speak your language, share your stories, and understand your culture, are bringing the Vaccine of Hope into our neighborhoods,” said Dr. Ramon Tallaj, Chairman of SOMOS Community Care. “We have fought hard for this privilege. Every day and every night of the past year, the doctors of SOMOS have worked to protect our most vulnerable and underserved communities. We have joined forces with the city and state, bringing trilingual testing to street corners, bringing the Vaccine of Hope into local churches, schools, public housing, and even Yankee Stadium – the place where heroes are made. We thank Governor Cuomo for recognizing that family doctors are essential for the success of the country’s vaccination plan. We appreciate that our government partners recognize our urgency and the ability of our network to do what we do best: serve the underserved, treat our own neighborhoods, and vaccinate the members of our hardest-hit communities.”

“We designed SOMOS to change the way we do healthcare in the United States. We created a new model based on equity, affordability, and the right to quality, preventative healthcare no matter who you are, where you live, and what language you speak. COVID-19 has proven the power of that model – with our doctors rising to the challenge of the century and risking their lives to protect the most vulnerable communities: those who are low-income, immigrants, and people of color,” said Henry R. Munoz, III, Vice-Chair of SOMOS US. “I am incredibly grateful to Governor Cuomo for recognizing the importance of doctors like us in creating a vaccine program committed to racial and class equity. We are proud to say that we can now advance our mission even further and bring the Vaccine of Hope into the neighborhood doctor’s offices New Yorkers have visited their entire lives – the places they know and trust; the places they will come to receive the shots in arms our city needs to move toward recovery.”

SOMOS Community Care and SOMOS US form the foundation of an innovative, value-based care network of over 2,500 diverse physicians and health care providers serving nearly 1 million people in New York City.

SOMOS Community Care and SOMOS US form the foundation of an innovative, value-based care network of over 2,500 diverse physicians and health care providers serving nearly 1 million people in New York City.

SOMOS has created a new model of quality, preventative health care on behalf of the most underserved communities of the United States, a model based on cultural competency, increased access, and the ability of community-based medicine to successfully address the social determinants of health.

SOMOS is the shared vision of Dr. Ramon Tallaj and Henry R. Muñoz, III, a doctor, and a designer, working together to create institutional change.

Photo credit: SOMOS.