FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For more information, please contact:

Bruce Darling: (585) 546-7510

Linda Taylor: (585) 546-7510

The Center for Disability Rights (CDR) is hosting a pop-up COVID-19 vaccination clinic in partnership with Monroe County and AcuteKids Pediatric Urgent Care at our State Street offices on Wednesday (3/31) and Friday (4/2).  All of the vaccine slots for these two pop-up clinics have been filled by Disabled individuals, personal care attendants, and their family members, but CDR wants to highlight the important work being spearheaded by Monroe County to ensure that the vaccine is available to people who need it most.

“We are so grateful to Monroe County and AcuteKids for making this possible. This pop-up clinic allows us to eliminate barriers that would have otherwise prevented people from being vaccinated,” said Bruce Darling CDR’s President and CEO. “Their efforts are literally saving people’s lives.”

The County was instrumental in organizing this effort. County representatives introduced CDR and Acute Kids to each other with the hopes that a partnership might improve vaccination outreach to the Disability Community. The County has been an active partner in all the coordination needed to put this clinic together and in ensuring the clinic’s vaccine supply.

AcuteKids opened in 2019 and partners with physicians across the Finger Lakes region. Seeing the county’s vaccination efforts as a way to support their community, the organization reached out to the Department of Health to offer their clinical expertise to assist in getting as many people as possible vaccinated. “AcuteKids Pediatric Urgent Care is honored to partner with the Department of Health to serve our community during this pandemic,” said Chrysa Charno AcuteKids CEO/Clinical Director. “While our business model surrounds the care of children from birth to age 21, in an urgent care setting, we recognized last Spring that there was a great need to serve our community with testing and now vaccination. AcuteKids will continue to focus on safety for the whole family, children through adults. The only way we will overcome this pandemic is with teamwork and partnerships such as this!” 

In addition to providing an accessible location for the event in the Center City of Rochester, CDR and the Regional Center for Independent Living are providing transportation for Disabled individuals who are unable to use Medicaid transportation to get to the clinic.  “Not everyone can easily get out to Henrietta and the Dome, so having another vaccination site in Center City Rochester is important to ensuring a more equitable distribution of the vaccine,” said Michael Townsend, Manager of CDR’s Housing Services. 

CDR also hopes to raise awareness about the importance of getting vaccinated.  “We need to get as many people vaccinated as we can,” said Reggie DeJesus, Manager of IL Services for CDR.  “Even if people don’t feel they need it for themselves, they need to get vaccinated for the elderly and Disabled members of our community who are most at risk. It’s time for us all to roll up our sleeves and get the shot to protect each other.”

For more information on the Center for Disability Rights please visit our website and follow us on Twitter & Facebook.

For more information on Monroe County’s vaccination efforts please visit their vaccine information website.

For More Information on AcuteKids please visit their website.

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